Sharad Pawar, Vijay Goel among 25 likely to be elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha

MUMBAI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar, former petroleum minister Murli Deora and RPI leader Ramdas Athavale are among seven who would be unanimously elected to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra. When the deadline for filing nominations ended on Tuesday evening, only 7 had filed papers, paving the way for their unanimous election.

BJP national spokesperson Prakash Javadekar was among the retiring MPs not renominated. He could be nominated from either Gujarat or Madhya Pradesh. His seat was given to Shiv Sena-BJP’s new alliance partner Republican Party of India.

Those set to be elected are Sharad Pawar and Majeed Memon from NCP, Murli Deora and Husain Dalwai from Congress, Ramdas Athawale of RPI, industrialist Rajkumar Dhoot from Shiv Sena and Pune based businessman Sanjay Kakade (Independent).

Pawar had told journalists on Saturday that he expected RS elections to end without contest. It was almost certain that all parties would file nominations matching the number of candidates whose win they could ensure.