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Mumbai: The Congress on Wednesday, March 4, declared its support for Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate for Rajya Sabha polls from Maharashtra, where the Opposition bloc is in a position to win one of the seven seats falling vacant.

AICC general secretary Ramesh Chennithala told PTI that the Congress leadership has conveyed to him about the decision to support Pawar, a sitting Rajya Sabha MP, in the March 16 polls to the Upper House of Parliament from Maharashtra.

The Congress decision to support the former Union minister for a fresh Rajya Sabha term comes a day before the last date (March 5) for filing nomination papers for the biennial elections.

Earlier, all three MVA allies – Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) – had staked claim to the lone seat the Opposition alliance can win from the state given their strength in the assembly. The combined Opposition can get only one of the seven Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra falling vacant in April.

The quota for first preference votes for a candidate to get elected is 36 as the strength of the 288-member legislative assembly has come down to 286. There are two vacancies due to the death of sitting MLAs — Shivajirao Kardile (BJP), elected from Rahuri in Ahilyanagar district, and Ajit Pawar (NCP), who represented Baramati in Pune district.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) has 20 MLAs followed by Congress (16), and NCP-SP (10).

Members of legislative assemblies form the electoral college for Rajya Sabha polls.

Earlier in the day, the ruling BJP announced four candidates for the polls.