The Shiv Sena has given its ground-level party worker, Sanjay Pawar from Kolhapur, an opportunity to go to the Rajya Sabha through the June 10 elections. The party had asked a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Sambhajiraje Bhosale, to join it for a ticket, but when the proposal was rejected, it chose Pawar over the member of the royal family from Kolhapur.

As per the party-wise strength in the Assembly of 288 members, which is the electoral house for the Rajya Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will get two seats. The BJP hasn’t announced the names yet. The Congress will declare its one candidate soon, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will field sitting MP and senior leader Praful Patel for one seat. The Sena will field its sitting MP Sanjay Raut, in addition to Pawar, as it has been given two seats as decided by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).