An interesting turn in RS polls in Maharashtra chapter

In what appears to be a snub to Yuvraj SambhajiRaje Chhatrapati, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday decided to field Sanjay Pawar, the saffron party’s district chief from Kolhapur for the Rajya Sabha polls.

SambhajiRaje, who is part of the Kolhapur royal family, is the 13th direct descendent of the iconic Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and grandson of legendary social reformer Rajrishi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj.

SambhajiRaje had planned to contest the RS polls as an Independent candidate and sought support of various political parties and had even met Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray.

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The Shiv Sena asked him to join the party and contest, an offer that SambhajiRaje declined.

From June 13, 2016, to May 3, 2022, SambhajiRaje was the President-nominated Rajya Sabha member, and is keen to serve the House of Elders.

“We respect him (SambhajiRaje), his family, and the throne, which is why we asked him to join the Shiv Sena so that he can contest as the sixth candidate for the polls…but kings are kings because of soldiers,” Raut said.

“Sanjay Pawar is mavala (soldier) of Shiv Sena and party chief (Uddhav Thackeray) has decided to give him candidature. But the official announcement will be made very soon,” Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said.

Raut said that the chapter for the sixth RS seat is now closed.

The electoral college is the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, and a candidate needs 42 votes to win the berth to the House of Elders.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi, the Shiv Sena-led alliance ruling Maharashtra, has 170 MLAs in the state Assembly. Shiv Sena leads the MVA with 55 seats, NCP close behind with 53 seats, Congress with 44, and the smaller parties/groups as well as Independents making up the rest of the coalition. The Bharatiya Janata Party, on the other hand, has 106 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly and has support of two seats from smaller parties/groups and five Independent candidates.

Given the arithmetic in the Vidhan Sabha, the BJP can get two members elected while the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, one each.

The contest would be for the sixth seat.

If SambhajiRaje contests as an Independent, the battle could get interesting.