After Kolhapur royal Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati declined the Shiv Sena’s offer to join the party and contest as a Rajya Sabha candidate, the Sena on May 24 said it was fielding its Kolhapur district president Sanjay Pawar as the candidate for the sixth Upper House seat from Maharashtra.
Sena MP Sanjay Raut said that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had taken the decision to give Mr. Pawar a chance and that a formal announcement would be made soon.
“Sanjay Pawar’s name has been finalised by CM Uddhav Thackeray and will be officially announced soon… He [Mr. Pawar] is a loyal Mavla [alluding to Chhatrapati Shivaji’s soldiers] and the CM has taken the decision to field him,” Mr. Raut said.