The need for election arose with the term of present Chairperson Jayantrao Tilak coming to an end. Tilak was not renominated in the just-concluded Council polls.

The Congress continued to enjoy a majority in the Upper House until the last Council elections which served as an equaliser in terms of numerical strength. Thus, in the 76-member House the dividing line runs right down the middle making the Chairperson's election anybody's game.

According to sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party, senior leader N S Pharande is emerging as the consensus candidate among the ruling coalition. Pharande was also a contender for a cabinet berth, but with the party unable to spare him a portfolio under the circumstances, the post of Council chairperson seemed a credible alternative.

A senior BJP leader said the partywas more than confident about seeing its nominee through, particularly after the Rajya Sabha elections in which the Congress exposed its strategic fault line. Since both sides are equally poised strength-wise, the BJP will willingly give up any claim on the Deputy Chairperson's post, leaving it for the Congress, sources said.

The state party leadership has already floated Pharande's name to gauge the reactions of its coalition partner, the Shiv Sena, in general and Bal Thackeray in particular. However, the party is yet to make its views public on this issue.

On the other hand, the Congress is equally determined to continue its psychological hegemony in the Upper House. In the last two years that the Congress enjoyed a majority in the Council, it managed to embarrass the treasury benches on various issues more effectively than in the Lower House.

Sources in the Congress say MPCC spokesperson Vasant Chavan has been considered for the position. Chavan who is said to be well-read and articulate is alsoknown to have a good grasp of the political and social dynamics of the state.