Five Mahayuti candidates to be elected unopposed

Five candidates from the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra are set to be elected unopposed to the legislative council. No opposition party has put forward candidates for these five seats. The official announcement for the election will be made on March 20, the last day for withdrawal of nominations. These seats became vacant when three members from the BJP, along with one member each from Shiv Sena and NCP, were elected to the legislative assembly in November 2024. The newly elected members will have varying terms in office due to different pending tenures for the vacant seats. BJP’s Dadarao Keche, Sandeep Joshi, and Sanjay Kenekar will serve around 14 months. NCP’s Sanjay Khodke will have more than five years, while Shiv Sena’s Chandrakant Raghuvanshi is expected to serve about three years. All five candidates submitted their nominations on Monday. An independent candidate also filed a nomination but is likely to be dismissed during scrutiny for lacking sufficient support. Currently, the legislative council has 52 members, with the Mahayuti alliance holding a majority of 32 seats. After the new elections, the ruling alliance's strength will increase to 57 members. The nominations reflect the influence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, as the candidates are close associates of his. The opposition did not participate in the nomination process, citing a lack of sufficient numbers in the legislative assembly to compete effectively.