MLC polls to be held on July 12

Mumbai: The biennial election for 11 seats of the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) will be held on July 12, the last day of the state legislature’s budget session, and around a fortnight ahead of the retirement of 11 members from the council on July 27.

Among the 11 MLCs whose six-year terms will end on July 27, four are from the BJP, two from the Congress, one from the NCP, one each from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Shiv Sena (UBT), one from the Peasants’ and Workers’ Party and one from the Rashtriya Samaj Paksh. The retiring members include Manisha Kayande (Shiv Sena), Vijay Girkar (BJP), Abdullah Durrani (NCP), Nilay Naik (BJP), Anil Parab (Shiv Sena-UBT), Ramesh Patil (BJP), Ramrao Patil (BJP), Dr Wajahat Mirza (Congress), Dr Pradnya Satav (Congress), Mahadev Jankar (RSP), and Jayant Patil (PWP).

The notification for the MLC election will be issued on June 25, while the last dates for filing and withdrawing would be July 2 and July 5, respectively. If the number of candidates exceeds the number of vacant seats, voting and counting would be held on July 12. As per the formula based on strength of the legislative assembly, each candidate will need at least 23 votes to become a member of the legislative council.

In 2018, members were elected to the legislative council unopposed as parties fielded candidates according to their strength. But in 2022, after polling was held on June 20, the Shiv Sena split into two factions, with Eknath Shinde forming his own camp and claiming on the party name as well as the symbol.