Mahayuti alliance candidates are set to be elected unopposed to the five vacant seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Council.
All five filed their nominations for the March 27 by-elections on Monday. The BJP has fielded three candidates (Sandeep Joshi, Sanjay Kenekar and Dadarao Keche); and the NCP and Shiv Sena one each (Sanjay Khodke and Chandrakant Raghuwanshi).
If a legislative council member is elected to the Lok Sabha or the assembly, their membership in the council is automatically revoked. Praveen Datke, Ramesh Karad, Gopichand Padalkar (all BJP), Rajesh Vitekar (NCP) and Amshya Padvi (Shiv Sena) were elected to the assembly in November 2024.
The legislative council’s tenure ends in May 2026, giving the newly elected members only 13 months to serve.
The BJP list reflects the influence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. All three candidates are considered close to Fadnavis, highlighting his hold over the party’s selection process.
Joshi is a former mayor of Nagpur, while Kenekar is a BJP general secretary and trusted aide.
Keche, a former MLA from Arvi in Wardha, did not get a ticket in the 2024 election. The BJP instead nominated Sumit Wankhede, an MLA and personal assistant to Fadnavis. Upset, Keche rebelled and filed his nomination as an independent. However, after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah, he withdrew his nomination.
Several Shiv Sena leaders were in the race for nomination, including former corporator Sheetal Mhatre and party secretary Sanjay More. However, the party chose Raghuwanshi, a former council member. Raghuwanshi has been in politics since 1992, starting his political journey with the Congress. In October 2019, he joined Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. In July 2022 he switched allegiance to Eknath Shinde.
Sanjay Khodke is married to Amravati MLA Sulbha Khodke. He is a close associate of Ajit Pawar.
Opposition parties have not fielded any candidates in the by polls. The MVA lacks sufficient numbers in the assembly to secure a seat.
