As Rajya Sabha elections for this year are around the corner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) added a major ingredient to the political soup after announcing the list of nominated leaders.

The stalwart Congress leader and turncoat Ashok Chavan gets a ticket to the upper house of the parliament in mere 24 hours of his entry into the BJP.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced Rajya Sabha elections on Feb 27 for the 56 empty seats across 15 states in India.

Elections for six Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra

Besides Ashok Chavan, the BJP has fielded Medha Kulkarni and Ajit Gopchhade from Maharashtra.

Elections for a total of six Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra have been scheduled.

Which states will hold RS elections?

Andhra Pradesh- 3

Bihar- 6

Chhattisgarh - 1

Gujarat - 4

Haryana -1

Himachal Pradesh - 1

Karnataka -4

Madhya Pradesh -5

Maharashtra - 6

Telangana- 3

Uttar Pradesh- 10

Uttarakhand - 1

West Bengal - 5

Odisha - 3

Rajasthan -3

Total: 56

BJP today also announced a list of four candidates from Gujarat for the Rajya Sabha elections. Nominations include the stalwarts of BJP including president JP Nadda, Govind Dholakia, Mayank Nayak, and Dr Jashvansinh Parmar.

Congress’ conundrum

Till now, Congress was slated to comfortably win one Rajya Sabha seat from Maharashtra, but Chavan’s sudden exit has cast a shadow on the party's prospects. Political watchers don’t rule out ‘surprise shock’ for Congress in the Upper House polls from the state.

A total of six Rajya Sabha seats are to be filled by the state. Out of these, the BJP, with the highest number of 105 legislators, is set to send three MPs on its own, while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena are expected to send one each.

Notably, NCP and Shiv Sena, the two key allies of Congress in Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), are in shambles today after witnessing vertical splits in the respective parties.

Congress was expected to lay claim to the sixth RS seat, owing to its biggest opposition party status with 44 MLAs in the House, but Chavan’s departure has led to clouds over its chances. Many believe that Chavan’s clout within the party is strong, and a couple of his loyalists are much more likely to do ‘cross-voting’ for him in the biennial elections.

What adds credence to the cross-voting speculation is a previous precedent, in which Ashok Chavan and 10 other Congress MLAs voted against the alliance’s decision.

(With inputs from IANS)

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