In Rajasthan, there are five candidates in the fray against four Rajya Sabha vacancies, while in Maharastra a total six seats are up for grabs
Shiv Sena MLAs being moved to a hotel in Malad, Mumbai ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections. ANI
Ahead of the Rajya Sabha election on 10 June, the BJP on Monday shifted most of its Rajasthan MLAs to a resort in Jaipur, days after a similar move by the state’s ruling Congress. Meanwhile, in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena MLAs too were shifted to a hotel in Malad, Mumbai on the day.
Here’s what we know:
Rajasthan
In Rajasthan while some MLAs reached the resort at Jamdoli on the Jaipur-Agra highway on their own, others took the two buses provided for them at the party office in the city. Nearly 60 MLAs had reached the resort, a party leader said in the evening.
“This is a training camp in which the MLAs will be given training on the Rajya Sabha elections,” a party spokesperson said.
Senior leaders are expected to address sessions at the camp, apparently being held to keep the MLAs from being won over by the ruling party ahead of the election.
Earlier, the Congress had shifted many of the party and independent MLAs to a hotel in Udaipur, saying it fears horse-training by the BJP.
There are five candidates in the fray against four Rajya Sabha vacancies in the state. Three of the five candidates belong to the Congress, while the BJP has fielded one candidate and is also backing Subhash Chandra, chief of media conglomerate Essel Group, who is contesting independently.
According to a report by The Print, a candidate needs 41 votes to be elected to the Rajya Sabha. The Congress, which has 108 MLAs in the state, is certain about two of its nominees, Mukul Wasnik and Randeep Surjewala, winning. However, it is short of 15 MLAs to ensure the victory of its third candidate, Pramod Tiwari.
Similarly, with his party having 71 MLAs in the state, BJP candidate Ghanshyam Tiwari is comfortably placed. However, the BJP will need the support of 11 more MLAs to assure independent candidate Chandra’s win, the report states.
Maharashtra
According to a report by India Today, Shiv Sena Sena is taking the MLAs to Hotel Retreat in the western suburbs of Mumbai. As per the plan, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting with independent and smaller party MLAs in the evening on Monday at Varsha Bungalow, CM’s official residence. After the meet, all MLAs were shifted to a hotel till the date of voting.
On Tuesday, Thackeray will be meeting MLAs and leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress, allies in the MVA government. The rest of the MLAs are also expected to move to other hotels in the city to avoid poaching by the opponent BJP, said a senior leader in MVA, according to the report.
A total six seats are up for grabs in Maharashtra. BJP has fielded three candidates, Congress and NCP one each, and Shiv Sena two.
In the the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, the BJP has 106 members in the House and nominated Union minister Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik. On the other hand, the NCP has renominated former Union minister Praful Patel while the Congress has fielded Imran Pratapgarhi. Shiva Sena has fielded Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, currently in jail following arrest in a money laundering case, on Monday approached a special court seeking bail for one day to cast vote in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. Last week, Maharashtra’s former home minister Anil Deshmukh, who is also in jail on money laundering charges, had filed a similar application.
With input from agencies
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