‘Sharad Pawar will contest Rajya Sabha elections, left the seat at the behest of NCP’- Congress

Political turmoil has intensified in Maharashtra regarding the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar has given a big statement on Wednesday. While giving the statement, he made it clear that Sharad Pawar will be the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate for Rajya Sabha and Congress will support him.

Vijay Wadettiwar said that Congress had initially claimed this seat because we are a national party and there was a strong demand for it from within the organization. However, later the leaders of NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) held talks with the Congress leadership. He also said that the party changed its stand considering the unity and coordination of the alliance.

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Vijay Wadettiwar made it clear that this decision was taken at the behest of the party high command and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. According to him, he had received a call from the high command to support Pawar. Wadettiwar said that this decision was taken according to the ethics of MVA and the alliance dharma.

Seal on Sonia Gandhi’s residence

Earlier, an important meeting regarding the Rajya Sabha elections was held at the residence of Congress Parliamentary Party President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi. Possible candidates and strategies were discussed in this meeting. It is believed that Congress has made this sacrifice to save the alliance from breaking in view of the upcoming assembly and other elections.

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Schedule of Rajya Sabha elections 2026

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India has announced the dates of elections to be held every two years for 37 Rajya Sabha seats. The tenure of the elected members ends in April 2026. The states whose seats will be vacant include Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana.

According to the election schedule, the notification was issued on 26 February. The last date for nomination is March 5, while scrutiny will take place on March 6. Candidates can withdraw their nomination till March 9. Voting will take place on March 16 and counting will begin at 5 pm on the same day.