Having decided not to contest the 2014 lok Sabha polls, NCP chief Sharad Pawar will file his nomination for the forthcoming biennial Rajya Sabha elections from Maharashtra on January 24.
Talking to mediapersons here, State NCP president Bhaskar Jadhav said that Pawar, who had earlier indicated that he would take Rajya Sabha route to Parliament, would file his papers for the February 7, 2014 RS biennial polls on January 24, while his party would finalise the name of the second candidate for the polls on Tuesday.
Pawar is currently the sitting lok Sabha member from the Madha constituency in Western Maharashtra. Pawar’s decision to seek election to Rajya Sabha before the expiry of his term in the lok Sabha, which will end in April-May this year, is in line with his decision to retire from electoral politics and devote more time for the party, while remaining a member of the Upper House of Parliament.
The term of seven Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra expires on April 2. The NCP has two retiring members: YP Trivedi and Janardhan Waghmare.
Pawar will be in the city on Tuesday, to finalise the list of NCP candidates for lok Sabha polls. The NCP will contest in 22 out of the 48 lok Sabha seats in the State, while its senior alliance partner, Congress, will contest the remaining 26 seats.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra NCP has dared Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to contest the lok Sabha election against Pawar’s daughter and sitting MP Supriya Sule from the Baramati.
Bhaskar Jadhav hit out at Uddhav’s statement that Pawar would lose his deposit if he contested the lok Sabha polls from Shirur constituency in Pune district. “It was uncivilised behaviour on part of Uddhav to target a senior leader like Pawar, who has already said he is not in the fray for lok Sabha elections,” Jadhav said.
“Instead, I dare Uddhav to contest against Supriya Sule from Baramati. If he does not want to do so, he may choose to contest Assembly elections against either of us,” Jadhav said.