Nana Patole: Congress to contest 2 MLC seats in Maharashtra

Nana Patole/ PTI

The Congress party will run in elections for two of the four Legislative Council seats allocated for graduates and teachers, Maharashtra unit president Nana Patole stated on Wednesday.

Patole added that the names of the candidates and their respective seats will be announced on June 2. The biannual elections for the four legislative council seats - Mumbai Graduates constituency, Konkan Graduates constituency, Mumbai Teachers constituency, and Nashik Teachers constituency - are essential due to the end of incumbent members' mandates in July, reported PTI.

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According to the report, the deadline for filing nominations is 7 June, with voting set for 26 June and results to be announced on 1 July.

Following a discussion with Congress leaders, Patole stated that the Shiv Sena (UBT) has already declared candidates for the Mumbai Graduates and Mumbai Teachers constituencies. "We have also decided to contest two seats, with the names to be announced on 2 June," stated the politician.

Notably, the Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray and a member of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), announced last week that MLC Anil Parab and party functionary J M Abhyankar would run for the Mumbai Graduates and Mumbai Teachers constituencies, the report added.

While the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) have chosen to run in the MLC elections, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) has yet to announce its plans to field candidates.

The Shiv Sena (undivided) now holds 11 seats in the Legislative Council, the NCP (undivided) has 9, Congress has 8, and the BJP has 22. The JD (U), Peasants and Workers Party, and Rashtriya Samaj Paksha all have one member, while Independents hold four seats. There are 21 vacant seats, with the Governor nominating 12 and local body representatives selecting nine, the PTI report stated.

Additionally, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has announced a candidate for the Konkan Graduates Constituency. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP, which is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance with the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the BJP, has nominated a candidate for the Mumbai Teachers constituency.

Nana Patole also spoke about the Pune car crash and said that some "high-profile" individuals, including an MLA's son, went drunk at a pub and drove the Porsche that killed two IT professionals in Pune ten days earlier. Speaking to reporters, Patole alleged that a car race was taking place at the time of the Pune car crash. He renewed his call for a CBI investigation and requested police to "reveal" the identities of everyone present in the automobile.