Polls to seven Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra on March 16, last day for filing nominations on March 5

Members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly will vote in the election.

The terms of seven Rajya Sabha members from the state, including NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, are set to expire in April. Pawar has not yet clarified whether he will seek another term.

The scrutiny of nominations will take place on March 6, while the last date for withdrawal of candidature is March 9, Athawale said.

If required, polling will be held on March 16 between 9 am and 4 pm at Vidhan Bhavan, followed by the counting of votes, according to the notification.

BJP holds core committee meet on Maharashtra Rajya Sabha Elections

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday convened a meeting of its core committee to draw up its strategy for the next month's Rajya Sabha elections for seven seats in Maharashtra, reported news agency PTI.

The meeting was held at 'Varsha', the official residence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, party sources told PTI.

The BJP has decided to field four candidates for the biennial elections to the Upper House of Parliament, the sources told PTI.

Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, an ally, is also expected to be in the fray with the BJP's support, while the party is working on how to ensure the victory of its sixth candidate, said a leader.

"Going by the present strength in the Assembly, we can easily win five seats, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) can win one," the leader told PTI.

"We are discussing some names (of candidates), but it would not be appropriate to reveal them at this stage," the leader added.

Meanwhile, in an organisational reshuffle, the Maharashtra BJP has appointed first-time BMC corporator Navnath Ban as the party's chief spokesperson, the party's state president Ravindra Chavan announced on Tuesday.

Ban, who earlier served as the state media chief of the party, replaces Keshav Upadhye.

Addressing a press conference, Chavan announced the names of the party's new state office-bearers, including chief spokespersons, general secretaries, secretaries, vice-presidents, treasurer and the BJP Yuva Morcha president.

According to the list released by the party, leaders, including MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar, Bharati Pawar, Sanjay Korge, Sanjay Bhende, Ramdas Kadam, Keshav Upadhye, Gopichand Padalkar, Priya Shinde, Sujay Vikhe Patil and Archana Patil Chakurkar have been appointed as state vice-presidents.

The party has named MLC Niranjan Davkhare, Sanjay Kute, Madhavi Naik, Rajesh Pande, Sunil Rane and Yogesh Sagar as general secretaries.

(With PTI inputs)