Several reports claim that former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan could be a Congress or Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections from Maharashtra. The MVA is a coalition of the Congress, the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) and the Shiv Sena (UBT).
The speculations turned rife when Rajan met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray at the latter’s residence in Mumbai on January 31.
Following the meeting, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said in a post on Instagram, “Truly a delight to host Raghu Rajan ji at our home, Matoshri. Apart from his already vast contribution to our economy on various roles, including being the Governor of the RBI, we strongly believe the future of the Indian economy must be guided by such individuals with a vision for the future.”
The elections for the membership of the Rajya Sabha will be conducted on February 27. Elections will take place for six Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra. The terms of current Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra — Prakash Javadekar, Anil Desai, Kumar Ketkar, V Muralidharan, Narayan Rane and Vandana Chavan — will end on April 2.
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With the latest meeting with Raghuram Rajan ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections, political circles in Maharashtra are abuzz with rumours that economist could be nominated as a Congress candidate or a joint candidate of the MVA.
A report in Hindustan quoted a leader of the Uddhav Thackeray faction as saying that Rajan may be presented as the MVA candidate for the Rajya Sabha from the Congress. “In this context, Rajan might have met Thackeray as a courtesy,” the leader said. However, Congress sources added that nothing has been decided yet.
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Rajya Sabha polls: The number game
Maharashtra has a total of 288 assembly seats. Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha should consist of not more than 250 members — 238 members representing the States and Union Territories, and 12 members nominated by the President.
According to the equation, each candidate — might require at least 42 votes of the assembly members to win. The BJP is sure to win three out of six Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra, Free Press Journal reported.
Now, the Congress has 45 MLAs. In the recent past, the two major political parties of Maharashtra — Shiv Sena and NCP — split up. In such a situation, to show the unity of the MVA, Thackeray’s faction and Sharad Pawar’s faction can support the Congress candidates.
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Published: 02 Feb 2024, 07:09 PM IST
