The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday released the names of three candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra Legislative Council by-polls, following approval from the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC). The selected candidates are Sandip Diwakarrao Joshi, Sanjay Kishanrao Kenekar, and Dadarao Yadavrao Keche.
The by-elections are being conducted to fill vacant seats in the Legislative Council after five sitting MLCs won in last year’s state assembly elections. The Election Commission of India had announced the schedule for these by-polls on March 3.
Voting for the five vacant seats will be carried out by sitting MLAs, with the counting of votes scheduled for March 27. The BJP is aiming to consolidate its presence in the state legislature through this election.
In the Maharashtra Assembly Elections last year, the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance secured a decisive victory, winning 235 seats. The BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 132 seats, while the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won 57 and 41 seats, respectively.
On the other hand, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a setback, with Congress securing only 16 seats. Its alliance partners, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), won 20 and 10 seats, respectively.
