The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena officially announced here on Wednesday that it has decided to field its senior leader Ambadas Danve to contest the forthcoming Legislative Council election.
The official announcement was made by Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray, while Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP and chief party spokesperson Sanjay Raut tweeted Danve’s candidature on his X account, stating that he will file his nomination papers on Thursday at 11 am, adding that it was Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s decision.
Incidentally, Andabas Danve’s Legislative Council term ended only a few months ago and popular expectation was that Uddhav Thackeray would be sent to the Legislative Council, since all earlier indications had pointed in that direction.
Commenting on the development, Congress leader Sachin Sawant said, “Our position was that Uddhav Thackeray should represent the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the Legislative Council, but Danve’s name has been proposed instead. Maharashtra Regional Congress Committee President Harshvardhan Sapkal had met Uddhav Thackeray and explained the position of the Congress. All three MVA opposition parties have to take decisions together. The decision in this regard will be taken by our party president and senior leaders.”
Reacting to the announcement, Sharad Pawar-led NCP leader Shashikant Shinde said, “When the Rajya Sabha election program was announced, all MVA parties had approved Sharad Pawar’s name. They also wanted Uddhav Thackeray to be the Legislative Council candidate. If Ambadas Danve’s name had been announced, it is the party’s right to nominate him. If the Legislative Council election is held unopposed, it will be good”.
Earlier the BJP announced 6 candidates for the state Legislative Council elections. A quota of 28 MLA votes is needed to get a Member of Legislative Council (MLC) elected to the Legislative Council, which is also known as the Vidhan Parishad.
Voting for 10 seats of the Legislative Council will be held on May 12 from 9 am to 4 pm and the results will be declared on the same day itself.
According to the strength of the assembly, BJP is expected to get 6 MLC seats, Shiv Sena 2 and NCP 1 MLC seat. Since the opposition MVA has much fewer MLAs in the Legislative Assembly, even with the combined strength of all Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) parties, it will get only a single Legislative Council seat.
Considering the Legislative Assembly strength of the BJP (131 MLAs), Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena (57 MLAs) and Ajit Pawar’s NCP (40 MLAs) as part of the ruling Mahayuti, 9 MLCs of the Mahayuti can easily get elected to the Legislative Council. While the total strength of the Maha vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the Legislative Assembly is only 46 MLAs.
Meanwhile, Ambadas Danve has expressed his happiness after getting the nomination for the Legislative Council election. Danve said, “My first reaction was that all our leaders wanted Uddhav to enter the Legislative Council, but they have decided to give an ordinary Shiv Sainik like me a chance to enter the House again. I was in the House even before this. I was the Leader of the Opposition. But the most important thing is that Uddhav gave his seat to an ordinary Shiv Sainik. So I would like to thank Uddhav Thackeray.”