Maharashtra: CM Uddhav files nomination for Legislative Council polls

Accompanied by his wife and son Aaditya, the CM was flanked by other senior leaders, including Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat, while he completed the official formalities.

Shiv Sena's Neelam Gorhe, the Legislative Council Deputy Chairperson, also filed her nomination.

NCP candidates Shashikant Shinde and Amol Mitkari also submitted their nominations to the Returning Officer, while Congress’ lone candidate Rajesh Rathod followed suit.

From the Opposition BJP, four candidates are fielded: Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil, Praveen Datke, Gopichand Padalkar and Ajit Gopchhede, and they also filed their nomination papers this afternoon.

After the Congress consenting to withdraw its second candidate Rajkishore alias Papa Modi late on Sunday, the stage is set for all the nine candidates to be elected unopposed.

With the MLC elections, Thackeray – who was unanimously elected the Chief Minister on November 28 last year – will make his debut as a legislator, a mandatory requirement since he was not a member of either house of legislature.

"The election to 9 MLC seats will be unopposed. We discussed with the Congress leadership that this is not the time for elections but to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. They honoured our request and amicably withdrew their second candidate," Sena MP Sanjay Raut said after the nominations were filed today.