Maharashtra Council by-poll on May 5; Prithviraj Chavan to contest

The by-election to a Maharashtra legislative council seat will be held on May 5, paving the way for chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to get elected to the legislature.

The announcement of the schedule for the by-poll by the Election Commission came close on the heels of the Bombay high court giving the go-ahead for it yesterday.

Chavan will be contesting the election to enter the state legislature, as per constitutional requirements. At present, he is not a member of either of the two Houses of the state legislature.

The seat fell vacant after Sanjay Dutt of the Congress resigned on March 11 to facilitate Chavan's election. Dutt's term was to expire July 7, 2016.

Chavan took over as the chief minister November 11 last year replacing Ashok Chavan who resigned over the Adarsh Housing Society scam. He is required to get elected to either of the two houses within six months of assuming office.

The EC had to seek the court's permission to hold the bye-election for the seat as former Shiv Sena MLC Anil Parab had in January challenged the June 2010 Legislative Council elections in which four MNS MLAs were allowed to vote despite being under suspension. Sanjay Dutt was one of the victorious candidates.

The EC said that notification for the by-election would be issued April 18.

The last date for filing nominations is April 25 and scrutiny will be conducted on April 26.

The last date for withdrawal of candidature is April 28. Polling, if necessary, will take place May 5 and counting of votes will take place the same day.