Maharashtra government minister Nawab Malik is in jail since his arrest by the ED.

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A court in Mumbai is likely to decide on Thursday on the bail pleas of two MLAs of the ruling party of Maharashtra, Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh.

This decision has become very important before the Rajya Sabha elections.

Because every single vote counts in the said election.

It is known that Nawab Malik, a minister in the Maharashtra government, has been in jail since his arrest by the Central Enforcement Directorate in February in a money laundering case.

One day bail has been applied for

Former state home minister Anil Deshmukh is also in jail on money laundering charges.

Both have approached the special court for one-day bail to cast their votes in the Rajya Sabha elections on Friday.

Nawab Malik has told the court that he is an elected MLA and is bound to represent the residents of his constituency in choosing a representative to the Rajya Sabha. 

Elections will be held for six Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra and for the first time in more than two decades, there is a contest between seven candidates.

The ruling Shiv Sena has fielded two candidates, Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar.

The opposition BJP has fielded three candidates- Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik.

Ruling alliance partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress have nominated one candidate each, Praful Patel and Imran Pratapgarhi.

Candidate needs 42 votes to win

A candidate needs 42 votes to win a Rajya Sabha seat.

The Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi has the numbers to win three out of six Rajya Sabha seats for which 288 MLAs will vote.

The BJP, which has 106 members in the Assembly, can win two on its own, but has fielded Dhananjay Mahadik, a third candidate, against Shiv Sena's Sanjay Pawar for the sixth seat.

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