By IANS,
Mumbai : Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan Friday opted for a soft alternative to enter the Maharashtra legislature — through the legislative council, or upper house, instead of facing the electorate.
A staunch party loyalist and Congress MLC Sanjay Dutt Friday resigned his seat to pave the way for Chavan’s entry to the upper house by next month.
Chavan was sworn-in as chief minister Nov 11 last year and the mandatory requirement is that he must get elected to either house of the legislature within six months.
In view of the current political situation, the party leadership at the state and central level has decided on a safe entry for Chavan, an official said.
Incidentally, Chavan was earlier a Rajya Sabha member and served as minister of state in Prime Minister’s Office before his appointment as chief minister, replacing Ashok Chavan.
Chavan and Dutt Thursday called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her political advisor Ahmed Patel and the AICC general secretary in charge of the state Mohan Prakash to finalise the arrangement.
Friday afternoon, Chavan and Dutt met Legislative Council chairman Shivajirao Deshmukh at Vidhan Bhawan and the latter submitted his resignation as an MLC.
According to indications, election for the council seat, vacated by Dutt, is likely to take place by April-end.