02 April,2024 11:42 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Prithviraj Chavan/ File Photo
Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan has stated his willingness to run for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 from Satara constituency if it is allocated to the Congress by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction headed by Sharad Pawar.
According to a report in IANS, Chavan clarified that the Satara seat is subject to the NCP (SP)'s quota and he will accept any chosen candidate by the NCP (SP). However, if they decide to hive up the seat, Chavan said he is willing to contest on a Congress ticket.
The decision comes after NCP President Sharad Pawar stated that Chavan was being considered as a contender for Satara with other NCP nominees, the report stated.
According to the report, Shriniwas D Patil, the current MP for Satara, has opted not to contest in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 due to health concerns. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is reportedly planning to nominate Chhatrapati Udayanraje Bhonsle for the seat.
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Chavan emphasised that he would only run from Satara with the authorisation of the Congress party and under their name and emblem, the report added.
Chavan and State NCP (SP) President Jayant Patil have discussed his probable candidature. Chavan was previously elected to the Lok Sabha three times from the Karad constituency, renamed Satara after the 2008 delimitation.
If the NCP (SP) decides to award Satara to the Congress, the Congress may reciprocate by allocating another seat from its quota as part of alliance politics, a party leader was quoted as saying in the IANS report.
Reportedly, the Satara seat was given to NCP (SP) after several closed-door meetings were held by the two parties with Patil seeing Chavan on Sunday at the latter's Karad residence.
On Monday, the Congress leader and former Maharashtra CM told a news channel, "The picture of Satara LS constituency is clear. In the seat-sharing process, the seat has gone to the NCP (SP) and we all will rally behind the candidate it decides to field. Satara is the "karma bhumi" of Maharashtra's first chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan and the ideologies of social reformers Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Shahu Maharaj originated here."
