Rajya Sabha polls: Setback for MVA alliance, Nawab Malik, Deshmukh denied bail

New Delhi: In a major setback for Maharashtra’s ruling coalition led by Uddhav Thackeray, a Mumbai court on Thursday rejected the bail for two of its arrested leaders Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh. The Maha Vikas Aghadi was counting on them to consolidate its strength ahead of RS polls tomorrow.

The rejection of bail may have strong implications for the alliance as the RS polls are increasingly being seen as heading to photo finish.

The duo had filed applications for temporary bail so that they could cast their vote in June 10 Rajya Sabha elections but after bail rejection, their vote is ruled out.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposed their bail pleas, claiming that the prionsers don’t have voting rights under the Representation of People Act.

Nawab Malik, minister in Uddhav govt has been behind bars since arrest by ED in February 2022 while former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh is also in jail on similar charges.

Both are the members of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

However, in a good news for the BJP, Devendra Fadnavis today tested –ve for Covid, thus making him available for voting tomorrow.

Elections for the 6 Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra will be held tomorrow. There are a total of 7 candidates in fray which means only 1 seat faces electoral contest. The state is set to witness electora contest for the first time in 2 decades.

The Shiv Sena has fielded 2 candidates including Sanjay Raut while BJP has put 3 candidates including Union Minister Piyush Goyal. NCP and Congress have nominated 1 candidate each – Praful Patel & Imran Pratapgarhi.
For winning the election, a candidate will require at least 42 seats to win Rajya Sabha seat.

The MVA alliance can win 3 of 6 RS seats on its own while BJP lays claim over 2 seats on the back of its strength in house. The contest is for 6th seat where smaller parties & independents may play a crucial role.