Maharashtra: Former BJP MLA from Latur Sudhakar Bhalerao joins NCP (SP)

Sudhakar Bhalerao. Pic/ X

Former BJP MLA Sudhakar Bhalerao on Thursday joined the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (SP), reported PTI.

Bhalerao, a former MLA from Udgir in Latur, went to the BJP office, submitted his resignation from the party, reported PTI. He then joined the NCP (SP) in a function in YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai.

Party supremo Sharad Pawar also attended the event along with other NCP (SP) leaders like Supriya Sule and Jayant Patil.

Bhalerao won from Udgir in the 2009 and 2014 assembly polls. However, the BJP replaced him with Anil Kamble in the 2019 polls. Kamble lost to undivided NCP's Sanjay Bansode, who is currently part of the Ajit Pawar faction and state sports minister.

BJP fields Pankaja Munde, four others for Maharashtra council elections

Maharashtra BJP on Monday announced the candidatures of OBC leader and former minister Pankaja Munde and four others for the upcoming polls to the state legislative council, reported news agency PTI.

The biennial Maharashtra council elections for 11 seats of the Upper House of the state legislature will be held on July 12.

The party, in a release, named Munde, former MLA Yogesh Tilekar, Parinay Phuke, Amit Gorkhe and Sadabhau Khot as its candidates, reported PTI.

Munde, the party's national general secretary, lost the state assembly polls in 2019 and the recently held Lok Sabha elections from Beed against NCP (SP)'s Bajrang Sonawane.

Among other candidates, Tilekar hails from Pune, Khot is from Sangli, and Gorkhe is a BJP functionary from Pimpri Chinchwad and belongs to the Matang community, one of the backward classes in the state, reported PTI.

Phuke is from Nagpur and known to be close to BJP leader and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The six-year term in office of 11 MLCs, elected by the Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs), is due to end on July 27 on their retirement, reported PTI.

The biennial Maharashtra council elections to the upper house of the state legislature is being held just months ahead of assembly polls, which are due in October, reported PTI.

With 14 vacancies in the 288-member house, the electoral college is 274, and the quota for the winning candidate is 23.

The Ajit Pawar-led NCP has 41 MLAs, the Eknath Shinde-led Sena has 40, and the BJP has 103. The Congress has 37, Shiv Sena (UBT) has 13 and NCP (SP) has 15.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said the state government will request the Centre to confer Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour, on former CM late Vasantrao Naik, reported PTI.

Opposition Congress member Nana Patole raised the demand in the state assembly.

Today is Naik's 111th birth anniversary. The Congress leader had served as the state chief minister from 1963 to 1975.

The state government observes his birth anniversary as 'Krishi Din' (agriculture day).

Fadnavis said there has been a demand to confer Bharat Ratna on former CM Naik, reported PTI.

"We will pursue the matter with the Centre to honour him with the Bharat Ratna," the deputy CM said, reported PTI.