Rajya Sabha bypoll: NCP leadership holds talks with Fadnavis

Mumbai: The NCP leadership met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday to discuss candidates for the Rajya Sabha bypoll scheduled for June 18, sources said.

The by-election has been necessitated by the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, who joined the state government after the death of her husband and deputy CM Ajit Pawar in a plane crash in Baramati in January.

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Earlier in the day, top NCP leaders Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, Dilip Walse Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal and Parth Pawar, who is a Rajya Sabha member, met at Patel's residence. After talks with Fadnavis at the CM's official residence 'Varsha' in south Mumbai, they were huddled in discussions at Bhujbal's residence, party sources said.

The meeting at Bhujbal's house is significant because he is among the frontrunners for the bypoll as the NDA nominee, they said. The NCP, BJP and Shiv Sena are ruling partners in the state.