Shiv Sena accuses Opposition of horse-trading for Rajya Sabha polls

The ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA-comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) in Maharashtra has the arithmetic on its side to win the sixth seat, Sena’s chief spokesperson and Sena MP Sanjay Raut asserted.

“The jealousy of the opposition can be seen through the attempts of horse-trading for the sixth Rajya Sabha seat by the opposition. The money from corruption and the horse-trading through it…when will this vicious circle stop?” Raut said in a tweet.

“The Shiv Sena will contest the sixth seat. Whatever anyone may do, the arithmetic is with the Maha Vikas Aghadi. We will fight and win,” the Rajya Sabha member added.

His assertion came a day after Sena leader and Maharashtra Transport Minister Anil Parab said his party will field a second candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls and expressed confidence that the second candidate of the Sena will get elected.

The tenure of six Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra — Piyush Goyal, Vinay Sahastrabuddhe and Vikas Mahatme (all three from the BJP), P Chidambaram (Congress), Praful Patel (NCP) and Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena) ends on July 4.

All four parties are yet to announce their candidates.

The BJP can win two Rajya Sabha seats with the number of MLAs it has, while the Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP can win a seat each. The contest will, therefore, be for the sixth seat.

But the Shiv Sena stand could hamper the prospects of Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje, a member of the Kolhapur royal family and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s descendant, who was earlier a President-nominated member of the Rajya Sabha.

Sambhajiraje recently announced that he would contest the next election to the Rajya Sabha as an independent candidate, and appealed to all parties to back him. He was earlier affiliated with the BJP.

NCP president Sharad Pawar has hinted that his party may support Sambhajiraje’s candidature, but, if the latter doesn’t get votes of the other two MVA constituents, his election could be difficult.

The notification for the Rajya Sabha elections will be issued on May 24. The entire process will be completed on June 13.