MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and Kolhapur Shiv Sena president Sanjay Pawar on Thursday filed nomination papers for the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections in the presence of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, NCP president Sharad Pawar, and revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat. Former MP Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati will declare his stand on whether or not he is contesting the Rajya Sabha elections on Friday.
A week ago, Sambhajiraje had declared that he will contest elections as an independent candidate. He had personally called on leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis, Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray to seek their support as an independent candidate.
Veteran Congress leader P Chidambaram, NCP's Praful Patel, BJP's Piyush Goyal, Vikas Mahatme and Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, and Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut are retiring on July 4. It is likely that Patel, Goyal, Chidambaram and Raut will be re-nominated. In the event that Sahasrabuddhe is not renominated, then former minister Anil Bonde and BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde are the front runners. The Congress, NCP and the BJP are yet to decide on their nominees. Devendra Fadnavis said a final decision on BJP nominees will be taken by the BJP parliamentary board.
Meanwhile, in his affidavit before the returning officer, Sanjay Raut has disclosed that his movable assets stood at Rs 2.2 crore and his wife's was at Rs 96 lakh, while immovable assets stood at Rs 8.3 crore and Rs 7.2 crore, respectively, and liabilities are worth Rs 1.7 and Rs 1.6 crore, respectively. In his income tax returns for 2020-2021, Raut has shown income of Rs 27 lakh against Rs 35.5 lakh in the last financial year. Raut has stated that while 29 criminal cases were filed against him, 17 have been disposed of and 12 cases are still pending. Raut has two revolvers, one worth Rs 30,375 and the other Rs 5,000.
Sanjay Pawar, on the other hand, has stated that his annual income for financial year 2020-2021 was Rs 5.1 lakh. His movable assets are worth Rs 56.19 lakh and that of his wife's stood at Rs 47.29 lakh, while their immovable assets stood at Rs 2.7 crore and Rs 47.6 lakh, respectively. In January 2012, he was convicted for organizing unlawful assembly, he has challenged the conviction before the court.
