Smita Thackeray is keen to go to Rajya Sabha on a Shiv Sena nomination. The party is still debating on her candidature.
MUMBAI: Smita Thackeray is keen to go to Rajya Sabha on a Shiv Sena nomination. The party is still debating on her candidature.
The one decision that the Sena has taken is that it would be a Marathi Manoos (or a Mahila, as the case may turn out to be) that would be sent to the upper house of Parliament. Unlike the earlier times, when the likes of Chandrika Kenia, Ram Jethmalani, Mukesh Patel and Pritish Nandy — all non-Marathis — were Sena members of Rajya Sabha, this time around, the Sena does not want to take any chances, in the wake of fears that its Marathi plank is being hijacked by the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
A person, on behalf of Smita Thackeray, said, “She has nothing to comment. It is for the party to respond.”
A Sena source said, “The party is in a dilemma over Smita’s candidature.” Sena leaders close to executive president Uddhav Thackeray have maintained a studied silence. Bal Thackeray will have the last word on the issue, said a senior leader.
The Rajya Sabha polls are scheduled over a period of time, but all the elections to it have to be completed by the first week of April.
All the political parties in the state have started the process of shortlisting the candidates for the Rajya Sabha. The Congress with two seats in its kitty is keen on renominating union petroleum minister Murli Deora and union minister in prime minister’s office (PMO) Prithviraj Chavan.
The state BJP has indicated the name of national party spokesperson Prakash Javdekar, replacing Ved Prakash Goyal. Both the BJP and the Sena have votes to support one candidate each from their respective parties. The surplus votes with either of them are not adequate to field a third candidate.
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