Congress declares Chidambaram as Maharashtra RS candidate

For the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, not a single candidate has been chosen from Maharashtra.

P Chidambaram

The high command has overruled state Congress president Ashok Chavan's recommendation of MP Avinash Pandey and asked former union finance minister P Chidambaram's nomination from the electoral college of Maharashtra Assembly because the Congress does not have enough MLAs to get him elected to Rajya Sabha from his home state Tamil Nadu. With 42 votes, Maharashtra Congress can elect just one MP, and this development has left Maharashtra Congress, which needs a boost after a dismal electoral show against the BJP in 2014, disappointed.

Voting for the Rajya Sabha polls is slated on June 11.

Sources said former home minister and ex-CM Sushilkumar Shinde too was being considered as well as former MP Milind Deora.