Maharashtra Council polls: Narayan Rane among 10 candidates elected unopposed

Former Chief Minister and Congress leader Narayan Rane was among the 10 candidates who got elected unopposed to Maharashtra Legislative Council on Friday as two others pulled out of the contest on the last day of withdrawal of nominations. Those who pulled out were Prasad Lad and Manoj Kotak, both from BJP.

A total of 12 candidates, six of them from BJP, had filed nomination papers for elections to 10 Legislative Council seats scheduled for June 10.

Among other candidates who made it to the Council are Sujit Singh Thakur, Pravin Darekar, R N Singh (all from BJP) and its allies Sadabhau Khot and Vinayak Mete, who were also fielded by the party. Leader of Opposition in the Council Dhananjay Munde and Council Chairman Ramraje Naik-Nimbalkar, both from NCP, and Shiv Sena ministers Diwakar Raote and Subhash Desai also won.

Meanwhile, the polling to elect an MLC from Thane local bodies constituency was held today. As many as 99.72 per cent voters (1,057 of 1,060 voters) cast their votes.

Five-time MLC Vasant Davkhare (NCP), the deputy chairman of the Council, is facing a tough challenge from Shiv Sena's Ravindra Phatak in Thane. The MLC election had all elected representatives from local civic bodies, including Zilla Parishad, municipal corporation and municipal council, in Thane district as voters.