Former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane to file nomination for Rajya Sabha polls from BJP quota

MUMBAI: Former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane will on Monday file his nomination papers from the BJP quota for the biennial Rajya Sabha polls from the state, sources close to him said today.

"Rane has accepted the BJP's offer of Rajya Sabha nomination and will file his papers on Monday," the sources told PTI.

March 12 is the last day for filing nominations for the March 23 election to the Upper House of Parliament.

The polls are being held for 58 Rajya Sabha seats across states, of which six are in Maharashtra.

Rane was not available for a comment.

Rane quit the Shiv Sena in 2005 and later joined the Congress.

He ended his over-a-decade-long association with the Congress in September last year.

The former Shiv Sena chief minister subsequently formed his own party, the Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh, and allied with the BJP-led NDA.

The 65-year-old Konkan strongman, along with Maharasthra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, had met BJP president Amit Shah in New Delhi last week.

Rane had subsequently told reporters that the saffron party had offered him a Rajya Sabha berth.

The BJP can get three candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha, given its strength of 122 MLAs in the 288-member House.

Union Human Resource Development Minister and BJP leader Prakash Javadekar filed his nomination papers yesterday.

The BJP is yet to announce its third candidate.

The sources said the BJP leadership had assured Rane that he would be inducted into the Fadnavis ministry, when its expansion or reshuffle took place.