Former Congressman and Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan’s entry into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has dampened Union Minister Narayan Rane’s chances of being sent to the Rajya Sabha for a second term. However, reports suggest that the BJP may field Mr. Rane in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Maharashtra’s Konkan region.
Sources on Tuesday said that Mr. Chavan would be nominated by the BJP for one (of the three) Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra that the BJP will be staking a claim on. With 104 MLAs, the BJP has the numbers to easily win three of the Stae’s six Upper House seats, which go to the polls on February 27.
According to a senior BJP leader, Mr. Chavan was likely to file his nomination on February 14.