Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar have filed their nomination papers on behalf of Shiv Sena for Rajya Sabha elections. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, NCP President Sharad Pawar, Congress leader and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat along with leaders of Mahavikas Aghadi were present. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut expressed confidence that both the candidates will win.
Rajya Sabha elections will be held for 6 seats in the state. At present, two candidates from BJP, one from Congress, one from NCP and one from Shiv Sena can be easily elected. Shiv Sena has announced its second candidate for the remaining one seat. Former MP Sambhaji Raje Chhatrapati was keen on this sixth seat. He had demanded that he be elected as an independent for this sixth seat. So, Shiv Sena had persuaded him to join the party and accept the candidature. However, he refused to join the Shiv Sena. Finally, Shiv Sena gave a chance to Kolhapur district chief Sanjay Pawar for the sixth position.
Maharashtra's Piyush Goyal, Vinay Sahastrabuddhe and Vikas Mahatme from Maharashtra, Sanjay Raut from Shiv Sena, Praful Patel from NCP and P Chidambaram from Congress are retiring on July 4.
Shiv Sena has decided to send Sanjay Raut back to Rajya Sabha. Recognizing his role in the formation of the Mahavikas Aghadi government and the need for timely coordination between the three parties, Raut comes forward at that time. Sanjay Raut is known as the face of Shiv Sena in Rajya Sabha. So far, Sanjay Raut has appeared in the Rajya Sabha three times in a row. Today is the fourth time he has filed his candidature.