The late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s son Parth Pawar is keen on Sharad Pawar’s Rajya Sabha MP seat, which is likely to become vacant by April 2026, and he is not keen to contest his mother Sunetra Pawar’s Rajya Sabha seat, party sources said.
According to sources, Parth Pawar is not keen to contest the Rajya Sabha MP seat from which his mother Sunetra Pawar resigned before she was sworn in because this would give him only a “partial” term in the Rajya Sabha.
However, Parth Pawar is keen on a “full term” of six years in the Rajya Sabha, and this is possible only if he contests Sharad Pawar’s Rajya Sabha MP seat, whose term will end by April 2026, sources said.
According to sources, Sharad Pawar and the late Ajit Pawar’s sons, Parth Pawar and Jay Pawar, held a long, closed-door meeting at the Vidya Pratishthan premises in Baramati on Wednesday.
The meeting discussed the construction of a memorial for Ajit Pawar, but Parth’s desire to enter the Rajya Sabha ended up becoming the main focus of the discussion, sources said.
Seven Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra are due to fall vacant in April 2026. These Rajya Sabha seats include seats held by Sharad Pawar, NCP MP Fauzia Khan, RPI (A) chief Ramdas Athawale, BJP’s Dhairyasheel Patil and Bhagwat Karad, Congress MP Rajni Patil, as well as the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi.
Of all these seats, Parth is interested in Sharad Pawar’s seat because it could give him a full six-year term as a Rajya Sabha MP, sources said.
However, Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra will depend on the strength of parties in the Maharashtra state assembly.
With 288 MLAs and 7 available seats, each candidate will need 37 votes to win the election. According to the current assembly, the BJP has 135 MLAs, the Shiv Sena has 57, and the NCP has 41. This makes it possible for the ruling coalition to win several seats. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP is believed to have a sufficient number of seats to elect an independent candidate, which could strengthen Parth Pawar’s chances, if he receives the support of the party leadership, sources said.