Mumbai, August 21: Nominees of BJP and NCP, Dhairyasheel Patil and Nitin Patil, respectively, on Wednesday filed their nominations for September 3 bypolls to two vacant Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra on the last day of submitting the papers. The BJP nominated Dhairyasheel Patil for the seat vacated by Udayanraje Bhosale who won the Lok Sabha election from Satara constituency.

Nitin Patil is fielded by the Nationalist Congress Party led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar for the RS seat that fell vacant after Union minister Piyush Goyal's election to Lok Sabha from Mumbai North constituency. Besides Dhairyasheel Patil, two Independents have filed nominations for the seat vacated by Bhosle and one Independent for the seat to be contested by Nitin Patil. Given the strength of the BJP and allies in the Maharashtra Assembly, both Patils are set to win comfortably. Haryana CM Saini Extends Wishes to Kiran Choudhary on Filing Her Nomination from Haryana for Rajya Sabha By-election.

Legislature officials on Wednesday said the result of bypolls will be announced on August 26 as nominations of Independents will be rejected. Goyal was re-elected to Rajya Sabha in June this year. Bhosale has been a member of the Upper House of Parliament since 2020. Rajya Sabha members are elected by MLAs of a legislative assembly who vote in proportional representation with the single transferable vote (STV) system. Rajya Sabha Elections 2024: BJP Announces 9 Candidates for RS Bypolls; Ravneet Singh Bittu Fielded From Rajasthan, Kiran Choudhary From Haryana, Check All Names Here.

In the 288-member House, with effective strength reduced to 274 as 14 seats are vacant, BJP has 103 MLAs, NCP 42, Congress 37, Shiv Sena (UBT) 15, and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) 10. 13 MLAs are Independents, Bahujan Vikas Aghadi 3, Samajwadi Party 2, AIMIM 2, and Prahar Janshakti Party 2. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, CPI (M), Swabhimani Paksha, RSP, Jan Surajya Shakti Party, Krantikari Shetkari Paksha, and PWP have one member each.