Shiv Sena alleges opposition’s horse-trading for Rajya Sabha elections

Shiv Sena, which is seeking to field two candidates in the Rajya Sabha, on Wednesday alleged that its political opponents were resorting to horse-trading for the sixth seat from Maharashtra in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Maharashtra’s ruling Maha Bikash Aghadi (MVA – comprising Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) has arithmetic to win the sixth seat, Army Chief Spokesperson and Army MP Sanjay Raut insisted.

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

“Shiv Sena will fight for the sixth seat. No matter what anyone does, arithmetic is a great development. We will fight and win, ”the Rajya Sabha member added.

The remarks came a day after Army leader and Maharashtra Transport Minister Anil Parab expressed confidence that his party would field a second candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections and that a second Army candidate would be elected.

Six Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra – Piyush Goyal, Binoy Sahastrabuddhe and Bikash Mahatma (all three from BJP), P Chidambaram (Congress), Praful Patel (NCP) and Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena) are due to expire on July 4.

All four parties have not yet announced their candidates.

The BJP can win two Rajya Sabha seats with the number of its MLAs, while Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP can win one seat each. So the competition will be for the sixth seat.

But Shiv Sena’s position could jeopardize the prospects of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raj, a member of the Kolhapur royal family and a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a former Rajya Sabha presidential nominee.

Sambhaji Raje has recently announced that he will contest the next Rajya Sabha elections as an independent candidate and has appealed to all parties to support him. He was earlier associated with the BJP.

NCP president Sharad Pawar has hinted that his party may support Sambhajiraj’s candidature, but his election could be difficult if he does not get the next two MVA seats.

Notification for Rajya Sabha elections will be issued on 24th May. The whole process will be completed on 13 June.