Milind Deora, Ashok Chavan, Praful Patel File Nomination For Rajya Sabha From Maharashtra

Mumbai: Congress turncoat Milind Deora filed nomination as Shiv Sena's (Eknath Shinde faction) Rajya Sabha candidate from Maharashtra on Thursday. Deora filed his nomination at the Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other party leaders.

Deora earlier this year switched from Congress severing decades-old family ties with the grand old party and joined Shiv Sena. He was elected to Lok Sabha in 2004 and 2009 but lost the consecutive general elections in 2014 and 2019.

Deora, the son of late Congress veteran leader Murli Deora, quit the party on January 14, alleging that it had deviated from its ideological and organisational roots. Former CM and Congress defector Ashok Chavan also filed his nomination as BJP's Rajya Candidate from Maharashtra on Thursday.

Ashok Chavan joined the BJP earlier this week, a day after quitting the Congress. Speaking after his nomination to the Rajya Sabha Chavan thanked PM Modi for having faith in him " I thank PM Modi, Union HM Amit Shah, party president JP Nadda, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and other leaders. I feel that the opportunity they have given me shows the faith BJP has in me..."

Former CM Ashok Chavan quit the party and joined BJP earlier this month. With a series of exits from the grand old party, it has been a major blow to the Congress in Maharashtra. However, the Congress has said that the exit of leaders will not have any impact on the upcoming Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha elections and that the party will come back strongly.

Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel filed his nomination for Rajya Sabha polls on Thursday. Speaking after filing his nomination, Praful Patel hailed NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar for his leadership and expressed confidence in the BJP-led NDA returning to power.

"On the instructions of Ajit Pawar, Sunil Tatkare, Dhananjay Munde, we have filed the nomination today. There is a doubt in people's mind that my term is not over, yet people are arguing about why the nomination has been filed today. We are in politics, some things happen, you will understand the picture in the coming days. We are working under the leadership of Ajit Dada," he said.

"Under the leadership of PM Modi, once again NDA government will come in the country, it will cross 400 and Maharashtra will also get 45 seats and Maharashtra will have a big contribution in the victory of PM," Praful Patel said.

Today is the last day for filing nomination papers for the RS polls. The Election Commission has scheduled the Rajya Sabha elections for 15 states, including Uttar Pradesh, for February 27. Voting will take place from 9 am to 4 pm on this date, with the deadline for nominations set for February 15. The results of the elections will be announced on the same day, February 27.

The Election Commission announced the biennial Rajya Sabha polls for 56 seats, as the tenure of incumbents ends in April.