india

Updated: Apr 30, 2020 21:43 IST

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Thursday requested the Election Commission to hold elections to the nine vacant seats of the Maharashtra Legislative Council ‘at the earliest’, ending suspense over CM Uddhav Thackeray’s nomination to the upper house in the state assembly.

The development comes close on the heels of Uddhav Thackeray reaching out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help sort out the brewing political crisis in the state, which has also been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak.

The Sena had hoped that the “message from Delhi” will reach the state Raj Bhavan.

The Governor made the request to fill the nine seats in the legislative council that have been lying vacant since April 24, with a view to end the current uncertainty in the State.

In his letter, the Governor has stated that the Central Government has announced many relaxation measures regarding the enforcement of lockdown in the country. As such the elections to the council seats can be held with certain guidelines, he has said.

Since Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray is not a member of either house of the State Legislature, he needs to get elected to the Council before May 27.

The Election Commission had withheld the election process for these nine seats following the coronavirus crisis.