Milind Deora from Shiv Sena Elected Unopposed Among 6 Maharashtra Rajya Sabha Candidates

The selection process for Members of Parliament for the six Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra concluded without any opposition on Tuesday. Until the 3 PM deadline today, there were no new nominations or withdrawals recorded for these seats. According to a ABP Live report, six Members of Parliament have been elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha. Among them, three are from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while one each belongs to the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Congress. The elected BJP MPs include Ashok Chavan, Medha Kulkarni, and Dr. Ajit Gopchhade. Milind Deora represents the Shiv Sena, Prful Patel is from the NCP, and Chandrakant Handore represents the Congress.

Earlier, the ruling coalition in Maharashtra had decided not to field a fourth candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections. This decision provided some relief to the Congress, especially after the recent shock of senior leader Ashok Chavan joining the BJP. Consequently, all six candidates, including Chavan and Congress' former minister Chandrakant Handore, will now be elected unopposed to the upper house of Parliament. The BJP nominated Chavan, former MLA Medha Kulkarni, and Sangh Parivar activist Ajit Gopchade. The Shiv Sena, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, chose former Union Minister Milind Deora as its candidate, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, selected incumbent Rajya Sabha MP and former Union Minister Praful Patel. It's worth noting that none of the six outgoing Rajya Sabha members from the state have been renominated. They include Union Ministers Narayan Rane and V. Muraleedharan, former Union Minister Prakash Javadekar (all from the BJP), Shiv Sena's Anil Desai, senior journalist Kumar Ketkar (Congress), and Vandana Chavan of the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP.