Maharashtra Legislative Council Elections Set to Go Uncontested

In addition, the Bharatiya Janata Party nominee Pragnya Satav, who had left Congress and resigned from the upper house in December 2025, filed her nomination for the by-election. No one from the opposition filed a nomination. The voting was scheduled for May 12, but the lack of an 11th candidate ensures that the 10 available seats will be filled without a contest.

Of the nine nominees, five belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party, including Sunil Karjatkar, Madhavi Naik, Sanjay Bhende, Vivek Kolhe and Pramod Jathar; Neelam Gorhe and Bacchu Kadu are from Shiv Sena; Zeeshan Siddique is from the Nationalist Congress Party; and Ambadas Danve is from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).

The Congress on Wednesday had announced that it would put up a nominee after Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) chief Uddhav Thackeray opted out of the race, declaring the nomination of Ambadas Danve. However, Congress did not field its nominee and decided to support Danve as the joint candidate of the Maha Vikas Aghadi after meeting with the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) delegation.

Shiv Sena has nominated Neelam Gorhe, who is the sitting member of the House, and her term will end on May 13. Bacchu Kadu, who was the founder of the political outfit Prahar, decided to merge it with Shiv Sena and became a party member. He formally joined Shiv Sena in the presence of party chief and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde before filing his nomination papers.

In the case of the Nationalist Congress Party, of the 85 aspirants, the party had shortlisted Anand Paranjape, Suraj Chavan, Umesh Patil, Zeeshan Siddique (former Member of Legislative Assembly and son of deceased party leader Baba Siddique) and Nazer Kazi. However, the party picked Zeeshan Siddique after the core committee, headed by party chief and Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, met on Wednesday and was given authority to take a final decision.

As far as Danve is concerned, Uddhav Thackeray chose him considering his performance as the Leader of Opposition in the State Council and also as the party leader in pursuing the party's agenda on the ground.

To secure a victory, a candidate requires a quota of 289 votes. Based on the current Assembly strength, the Mahayuti alliance, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (131 Members of Legislative Assembly), Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena (57), and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (40), has the numbers to comfortably elect eight candidates. The Maha Vikas Aghadi, with a combined strength of 46 Members of Legislative Assembly, is positioned to secure only one seat easily. The quota was 29 votes for these nine seats.

Despite three independent candidates filing nominations, their applications are expected to be rejected during scrutiny as they lack the mandatory signatures of 10 Members of Legislative Assembly as proposers. With only 10 valid nominations for 10 seats, the election has effectively become a formality.

Observers said this strategic move by both the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi avoids a high-stakes "horse-trading" scenario and ensures a smooth transition for the incoming Members of Legislative Council.

- IANS