Mumbai, April 29 (IANS) Ending weeks of intense speculation regarding the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA) candidate for the upcoming Legislative Council elections, Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday officially announced Ambadas Danve as its nominee.

The announcement was made by MLA Aaditya Thackeray, who confirmed that while there was significant pressure on party chief Uddhav Thackeray to contest, the decision to field Danve was personally finalised by the senior Thackeray.

“Ambadas Danve will be the official candidate of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. This decision has been taken by Shiv Sena party chief Uddhav Thackeray,” Aaditya Thackeray told reporters.

Earlier, alliance partners pushed for Uddhav Thackeray to take the seat. Notably, Supriya Sule of the NCP (SP) had publicly requested Thackeray to represent the MVA in the Legislative Council. Similarly, the Congress party had also announced support to Uddhav Thackeray for his nomination.

However, bypassing these suggestions, the party has decided to stick with Danve, who is the former Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council.

Reinforcing the announcement, Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Raut, took to X to confirm the development. Raut stated that Danve would file his nomination papers tomorrow at 11:00 A.M.

While Shiv Sena (UBT) has projected Danve as the face of the MVA for this seat, political observers are now keen to see the official reactions from the Congress and NCP (SP).

Whether the alliance partners will offer their unanimous and active support during the filing process remains the focal point of state politics over the next 24 hours as Thursday is the last day for filing nominations.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi has 46 legislators comprising Shiv Sena (UBT) 20, NCP (SP) 10 and Congress 16.

Shiv Sena (UBT)’s announcement nominating Danve comes a day after the BJP declared its five nominees for the state council elections. Polling is slated on May 12 for nine seats and also for one more where the BJP has nominated Pradnya Satav who left the Congress and resigned as a member of the state council in December 2025 and joined the BJP.

–IANS

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