Maharashtra Rajya Sabha Vote: Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh Denied Bail [9.6.2022]
In a huge setback to Maharashtra's ruling coalition, a
court today rejected bail for two arrested leaders, Nawab Malik and Anil
Deshmukh, whose votes were critical in the Rajya Sabha elections to be held
tomorrow.
The setback came a day before an election in which every
vote will count and decisions may go down to the wire.
Nawab Malik, a Maharashtra Minister, has been in jail
since his arrest in February by the Enforcement Directorate in a money
laundering case. The state's former home minister Anil Deshmukh is also in jail
on similar allegations.
They had requested a day's bail to cast their vote in the
Rajya Sabha election on Friday, but the court agreed with the Enforcement
Directorate's argument that "prisoners do not have voting rights".
Both
are members of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which, along with the
Congress, is a part of the Shiv Sena-led alliance.
At the same time, the opposition BJP today scored an
advantage as its leader Devendra Fadnavis tested native for Covid, which means
he can vote tomorrow.
Elections will be held for six Rajya Sabha seats in
Maharashtra and with seven candidates, there will be a contest in the state for
the first time in more than two decades.
Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena has fielded two candidates,
Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar. The opposition BJP has put up three candidates -
Union minister Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik.
Ruling coalition allies NCP and Congress have nominated
one candidate each, Praful Patel and Imran Pratapgarhi.
Any candidate needs 42 votes to win a Rajya Sabha seat.