The Shiv Sena has named actor Urmila Matondkar for nomination to the Maharashtra Legislative Council, The Indian Express reported on Friday.

Party leader Sanjay Raut told the newspaper: “Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has spoken to Matondkar and she has agreed to be nominated by the Sena.”

Earlier in the day, Raut had said that Thackeray was authorised to take a decision on nominating the actor to the seat, according to PTI. The Maha Vikas Aghadi government, comprising the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress, will recommend 12 names in total to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for nomination to the state Legislative Council.

On Thursday, the Maharashtra Cabinet had approved the proposal to send names for the nomination to the Council through the governor’s quota. Unidentified officials said all three parties of the coalition recommended four names each.

Matondkar had in 2019 contested the Lok Sabha election from Mumbai North seat on a Congress ticket but lost to a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate. She quit the party in September 2019 over “petty in-house politics” in the Mumbai unit of the Congress.

Apart from Matondkar, the names of farmers’ leader Raju Shetti and newly inducted NCP member Eknath Khadse were making the rounds for the nomination, NCP leaders said. “They are sure-shot probable,” an NCP leader said.

Twelve Maharashtra Legislative Council seats had fallen vacant in June this year. The governor can nominate 12 members with knowledge or practical experience in the field of science, literature, art, cooperative movement, and social service to the state Legislative Council, as per the Constitution.