BJP Names 4 Candidates For Maharashtra RS Polls; Balances Caste, Region

Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday announced its candidates for the March 16 Rajya Sabha elections from Maharashtra, nominating Ramdas Athawale, Vinod Tawde, Maya Chintaman Ivnate and Ramrao Wadkute. The party’s selection reflects a calibrated attempt at caste and regional balance, with representation from the Maratha, Dalit, Scheduled Caste (SC), tribal and Dhangar (OBC) communities.

Among the BJP nominees, Union Minister of State and Republican Party of India (Athawale) chief Ramdas Athawale has been renominated. A prominent Dalit face associated with the Ambedkar movement, he will be entering the Rajya Sabha for the third time, having first been elected to the Upper House in 2014. Earlier, he was a three-time Lok Sabha member.

BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde will enter the Rajya Sabha for the first time. A Maratha leader, Mr. Tawde began his political career with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and later served as Mumbai BJP president, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, and a Cabinet Minister handling key portfolios during the Devendra Fadnavis-led government from 2014 to 2019. After being inducted into the BJP’s central leadership in 2020, he played an organisational role in several States, including Haryana and Bihar, and currently serves as the party’s election in-charge for Kerala.

The BJP has also nominated Maya Chintaman Ivnate, a prominent tribal leader from Nagpur and a former mayor of the city. She has earlier served as a member of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and is known for her advocacy of tribal identity and rights. Her nomination has been welcomed by BJP workers and tribal leaders in Vidarbha as recognition of both the region and women from the tribal community.

Ramrao Wadkute, the BJP’s Hingoli district president, represents the Dhangar community. A former member of the Legislative Council, he was earlier associated with the undivided Nationalist Congress Party before joining the BJP in 2019. He later resigned from the Council and was appointed district president in 2021.

A senior BJP leader said the names were finalised by the party high command in consultation with the State leadership after considering caste, regional balance and organisational loyalty. “The party has undertaken comprehensive social engineering while selecting candidates for the Rajya Sabha,” the leader said, adding that those chosen have demonstrated commitment to the organisation and its ideology.

After his nomination, Mr. Athawale met the Chief Minister at the Legislature and said he would continue to promote Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development agenda.

The NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Ajit Pawar will nominate Parth Pawar, while former Lok Sabha member Rahul Shewale is likely to be the candidate of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. The election is expected to be largely unopposed.

On the Opposition side, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has decided to field veteran Maratha leader and NCP founder Sharad Pawar.

The election for the seven Rajya Sabha seats is expected to be unopposed. March 5 is the last date for filing nominations, and all candidates are expected to submit their papers on Thursday.