Opposition in bind after Supriya Sule pitches father Sharad Pawar for Maharashtra RS seat

At the heart of this dilemma is veteran Maratha leader and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, who has thrown his hat in the ring for the March 16 Rajya Sabha election from the state.

Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule said her father should be in the upper House. This claim has put other bloc partners, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), in a bind as the two were hoping for a run at Rajya Sabha this time, given Sharad Pawar’s advancing age (85) and health.

Citing the highest number of MLAs in the Opposition camp, the Congress is learnt to have laid the claim to the lone seat that the Maha Vikas Aghadi can win in Maharashtra, provided it stays united. In the present cycle of Rajya Sabha elections, each candidate needs to poll 37 first preference votes to win in Maharashtra Assembly of 288 MLAs.

The combined Opposition has 46 MLAs (Congress 20, Shiv Sena (UBT) 16 and NCP (SP) 10). The Maha Vikas Aghadi can win one seat if they stay together. But Sharad Pawar’s claim to the seat has queered the pitch with no one ready to bell the cat. Opposition sources said if Sharad Pawar wants to contest it would be difficult for anyone to say no.

“NCP (SP) leaders Supriya Sule and Jayant Patil met Uddhav Thackeray at Matoshri today. No decision has been made on the Rajya Sabha seat yet, but will be made soon. All MVA partners will be together for discussions on the seat and the political alignments,” Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said on X.

Meanwhile, the NCP has named late Ajit Pawar's son Parth as candidate from its quota of one seat from the ruling NDA camp in the state. Earlier, Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra became Deputy CM in place of the late leader. She's currently Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra with her term ending this month. March 5 is the last date for filing nominations.