Ram Shinde, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Legislative Council (MLC) in Maharashtra, officially filed his nomination on Wednesday for the position of Chairperson of the Legislative Council. The election is scheduled for December 19.
Key Details
- Nomination Event:
- Shinde submitted his nomination in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at Vidhan Bhavan, Nagpur.
- Other leaders, including Ministers Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Chandrakant Patil, Uday Samant, and Jaykumar Rawal, were also present.
- The Maharashtra CM’s official social media account posted about the nomination, showing leaders congratulating Shinde.
- Acknowledgments by Ram Shinde:
- Shinde expressed gratitude to BJP and NDA leaders at both the national and state levels, including PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP National President JP Nadda, CM Devendra Fadnavis, and Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.
- In a post on X, Shinde thanked all leaders for considering him for the post.
Background
- Vacant Chairperson Position:
- The Chairperson’s post has been vacant since 2022, following the end of Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar’s term.
- Shiv Sena’s Neelam Gorhe has served as acting Chairperson since then.
- Council Dynamics:
- If elected, Shinde’s win will mark the BJP holding both the Council Chairperson and Assembly Speaker positions, the latter filled by Rahul Narwekar on December 9.
- Out of 78 seats in the Council, 26 are currently vacant.
- BJP leads the Council with 19 members, supported by allies in the Mahayuti coalition, including NCP (Ajit Pawar) with 7 members and Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) with 6 members, totaling 35 seats.
- The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has 17 seats, comprising Shiv Sena (UBT) with 7 members, Congress with 7, and NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) with 3.
Political Implications
- The election strengthens BJP’s control in Maharashtra’s legislative bodies, showcasing its numerical strength in the Council.
- Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena had reportedly sought key positions, but BJP’s seat majority enabled it to nominate a candidate from its own party.
Shinde previously served as an MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed in 2014 but lost the 2019 election to Rohit Pawar of the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction). His nomination as Chairperson could mark a political resurgence.