The BJP on Wednesday nominated national general secretary Vinod Tawde, Union minister Ramdas Athawale, corporator Maya Ivnate, and former MLC Ramrao Wadkute as its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Maharashtra, on the eve of the last day of nominations.As in its first list of picks announced a day earlier, organisational loyalty and performance, in addition to concerns related to balancing the caste equation in the state, seemed to underline the choices.Advertisement“In all, the four picks underline both the NDA’s alliance dharma as well as inclusiveness of vision; now the question is who the other allies, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, choose,” a BJP source said.The terms of seven Rajya Sabha MPs from the state will end in April. While the BJP is in a position to ensure the election of all its four nominees, the Shiv Sena and the NCP can get one each elected.Suspense regarding the party’s decision on two more Rajya Sabha seats, which the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is comfortably in a position to stake claim to based on its numerical strength in the Maharashtra Assembly, meanwhile, triggered speculation about the political goings-on in the state.AdvertisementThe seventh seat will go to the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).“Three of the four picks underscore representation along the BJP’s lines of inclusive development – Ivnate ji, Wadkute ji and Tawde ji come from prominent sections of the state’s significant communities, such as the ST-SC and Maratha camps. Suspense remains on the fate of the seat previously represented by NCP veteran Sharad Pawar,” a BJP source said.Vinod TawdeOne of the seven national general secretaries of the BJP, Tawde, belongs to the Maratha community, with roots in the Konkan region. A former Maharashtra minister, he was denied a ticket in the 2019 Assembly polls but was later inducted into the central BJP team in 2021. He has played key roles in the Bihar Assembly elections and Chandigarh civic polls, and is currently election in-charge for poll-bound Kerala.“The elevation of Tawde ji, who is considered to have played a significant role in managing the party’s affairs in the state following a split in the NCP and Shiv Sena, triggering a political crisis in the state and then with the 2022 Assembly elections, is clearly a reward for organisational performance,” a party leader said.“It also underlines the BJP’s vision of ensuring performance-based progression within the organisation—his elevation to the Council of States will create space for another proven organisational leader to be part of the new team of national BJP president Nitin Nabin as one of the seven national BJP general secretaries,” the leader added.Ramdas AthawaleRamdas Athawale, the president of the Republican Party of India (A), is a key National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally, as well as the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment. He represents the Scheduled Caste community.Based in Mumbai, he has been a Union minister since 2016. Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Athawale, upset with the Congress-NCP, decided to ally with the BJP. He was rewarded with a Rajya Sabha seat after the 2014 elections. In 2020, he got a second term.“Repeating Athawale ji was a foregone conclusion; he is not just a key NDA ally in the state, but also from the Dalit community,” a BJP source said.you may likeMaya IvnateThe sole woman on the list, former Nagpur mayor Maya Chintaman Ivnate, is a prominent face from the Scheduled Tribe community in the state. She is considered close, both to the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. A corporator in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation, Ivnate hails from Vidarbha and has also served as a member of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.Ramrao WadkuteRamrao Wadkute, who represents the state’s Dhangar community, was a prominent NCP leader who had joined the BJP on the heels of the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, preceding its split. He had stepped down as one of the nominated members of the Maharashtra Legislative Council. Wadkute, who hails from Hingoli in Marathwada, has been rewarded for his loyalty and organisational work despite being denied Assembly tickets in 2019 and 2024.Beginning with 37 seats across 10 states that will hold elections on March 16, another 34 vacancies are set to arise in the Upper House over the remainder of this year. Poised to pick up around 19 seats after the March elections, the NDA has 133 MPs in the 245-member Rajya Sabha, of which the BJP alone has 103, 20 short of the 123-seat majority mark.