Urmila Matondkar, Eknath Khadse among MLC nominees in governor's quota

Eknath Khadse, Urmila Matondkar. File pics

All eyes are now on the Maharashtra governor as the MVA government has sent in nominations of people of eminence, including politicians, those working in the field of arts, literature, social service and cooperation, to the Raj Bhavan to fill up the 12 vacancies of the Upper House in the governor's quota.

According to sources, the Shiv Sena has recommended actress Urmila Matondkar, who quit the Congress after losing last year's Lok Sabha polls. Recently, Urmila defended the Sena in a controversy around a Bollywood actor's death and had taken on industry colleague Kangana Ranaut. The NCP is reported to have included Eknath Khadse, who broke 40-year-old ties with the BJP last month.

Ministers Anil Parab, Nawab Mallik and Amit Deshmukh handed Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari a sealed envelope from Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The vacancies were created early this year, but the nominations were delayed because of the pandemic and also because of the tussle between the governor and the MVA.

MVA confident

The MVA is confident that the governor will approve of the government's recommendations and nominate the candidates without delay. Sources said the resumes of the 12 people had been verified by the advocate general and other constitutional experts. Most of the recommended persons have been part of electoral politics.

According to information available, Shiv Sena also recommended Chandrakant Raghuvanshi, a former Congress member in the Upper House, who shifted his loyalty to the Thackerays last year. He hails from Nandurbar district where the Sena needs back-up. Dr Nitin Bangude Patil, a historian of the Maratha rule and public speaker, who has campaigned for the Sena, has also been nominated. Sena's fourth nomination went to a hardcore party loyalist from Nashik, Vijay Karanjkar.

Keeping promises

Living up to Khadse's expectations, Sharad Pawar's NCP is learned to have kept a promise it made to former MP (Swabhimani Paksha/Shetkari Sanghatna) and a foe-turned-ally, Raju Shetti. The farmers' leader and ex-NDA partner was also a member of Maharashtra Assembly. He lost last year's Lok Sabha elections from Hatkanangale to a Sena candidate Dhairyasheel Mane. A popular Marathi singer Anand Shinde (Mumbai) and academician-turned-politician Dr Yashpal Bhinge (Nanded) are NCP's two other nominees. In last year's Lok Sabha polls, Bhinge played a major role in beating Congressman Ashok Chavan (Nanded) as a candidate of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. The Congress has recommended its state general secretary and spokesperson Sachin Sawant (Mumbai), former MP Rajani Patil (Marathwada), former MLC Muzaffar Hussain (Mira Road) and popular Marathi singer Anirudh Bankar. Bankar unsuccessfully contested last year's Lok Sabha polls from Chandrapur as VBA candidate.

Considering the imminent fear of rejection by the governor, Parab said the Cabinet's resolution and CM's letter had mentioned everything legal. "The CM has made all necessary references in his request to the governor," he added.

The nominees

Shiv Sena: Urmila Matondkar, Chandrakant Raghuvanshi, Nitin Bangude Patil, Vijay Karanjkar
NCP: Eknath Khadse, Raju Shetti, Anand Shinde, Yashpal Bhinge
Congress: Rajani Patil, Sachin Sawant, Muzaffar Hussain, Anirudh Bankar

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