Chavan to enter Maharashtra legislature through upper house
March 11th, 2011 - 9:09 pm ICT by IANS
Mumbai, March 11 (IANS) Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan Friday opted for a soft alternative to enter the Maharashtra legislature — through the legislative council, or upper house, instead of facing the electorate.
A staunch party loyalist and Congress MLC Sanjay Dutt Friday resigned his seat to pave the way for Chavan’s entry to the upper house by next month.
Chavan was sworn-in as chief minister Nov 11 last year and the mandatory requirement is that he must get elected to either house of the legislature within six months.
In view of the current political situation, the party leadership at the state and central level has decided on a safe entry for Chavan, an official said.
Incidentally, Chavan was earlier a Rajya Sabha member and served as minister of state in Prime Minister’s Office before his appointment as chief minister, replacing Ashok Chavan.
Chavan and Dutt Thursday called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her political advisor Ahmed Patel and the AICC general secretary in charge of the state Mohan Prakash to finalise the arrangement.
Friday afternoon, Chavan and Dutt met Legislative Council chairman Shivajirao Deshmukh at Vidhan Bhawan and the latter submitted his resignation as an MLC.
According to indications, election for the council seat, vacated by Dutt, is likely to take place by April-end.
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- Maharashtra council by-poll schedule announced - Apr 14, 2011
- Prithviraj Chavan elected to legislative council unopposed - Apr 27, 2011
- Maharashtra opposition undecided on by-poll candidate - Apr 22, 2011
- Maharashtra legislative council bye-election on May 5 - Apr 14, 2011
- Congress' Hussain Dalwai wins Rajya Sabha by-poll - Jul 22, 2011
- Prithviraj Chavan set to enter legislature unopposed - Apr 22, 2011
- Maharashtra Cabinet expanded to 31 ministers - Nov 19, 2010
- Chavan stakes claim, swearing in Thursday (Lead) - Nov 11, 2010
- Akhilesh Yadav files nomination for legislative council - Apr 12, 2012
- CID to probe Maharashtra legislators' 'fake signatures' - Mar 29, 2012
- Prithviraj Chavan sworn in Maharashtra chief minister (Lead) - Nov 11, 2010
Tags: ashok, chief minister, congress president sonia gandhi, council chairman, council seat, deshmukh, electorate, friday afternoon, general secretary, legislative council, mandatory requirement, minister of state, mlc, mohan, party leadership, political situation, prithviraj, rajya sabha member, sanjay dutt, upper house