Shiv Sena nominates Priyanka Chaturvedi for Rajya Sabha polls

The election for the seven Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra will be held on March 26. (File)

Shiv Sena on Thursday nominated its deputy leader Priyanka Chaturvedi as the party’s candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls from Maharashtra.

Chaturvedi, a former congress spokesperson, joined the Sena in April last year and was appointed as the deputy leader of the party. She had resigned from the Congress expressing her displeasure over the reinstatement of party workers despite their “unruly behaviour”.

Sources in the Sena said Chaturvedi has been nominated and will file her nominations on Friday. “Senior Sena leader Chandrakant Khaire was almost chosen for the seat but Chaturvedi was nominated on the insistence of Aadityaji (Thackeray),” said a Sena leader. The leader added that a section of party leaders was backing Khaire, who they said, was a senior leader of the party from Marathwada region. “The upcoming Aurangabad Municipal Corporation polls were also brought to the notice of the party leadership,” said the leader.

Khaire, a four-time MP from Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency, lost to AIMIM’s Imtiyaz Jaleel in 2019 polls.

But another Sena leader said Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray was building his own team with the nomination of Chaturvedi. “Aadityaji was instrumental in her induction in the party. The nomination of Chatur-vedi will help the party in using her political network in Delhi in the wake of the alliance politics in the state,” the leader added.

Election for the seven Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra will be held on March 26. While Congress has nominated Rajiv Satav, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, BJP’s Udayanraje Bhosale, Union minister and Republican Party of India president Ramdas Athawale have filed their nominations for the Upper House. The last date for filing of nomination is March 13. BJP has also nominated Bhagwat Karad for a Rajya Sabha seat.