Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Congress left red-faced in Kolhapur North as Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati withdraws candidature

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Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati withdrew her candidature for the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 from the Kolhapur West Assembly seat, leaving the Congress red-faced, news agency PTI reported.

A visually upset Satej Patil expressed dismay at Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati pulling out of the race in Kolhapur, leaving the Congress without representation in one of its western Maharashtra strongholds.

The setback comes after the Congress changed its earlier candidate on the seat, ex-corporator Rajesh Latkar, and nominated her after a party office was vandalised by those opposed to the former. Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati is the daughter-in-law of Kolhapur Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) and royal family member Shahu Chhatrapati.

Quoting sources, PTI stated that Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati may have pulled out of the race owing to the negative publicity over the snub to Latkar. They added the Congress is likely to support Latkar, who is contesting as an independent.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to convince two-time lawmaker Gopal Shetty to opt out from Mumbai's Borivali.

Shetty, who had won the Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat with more than 4 lakh votes in 2014 and 2019, was not given a ticket in the 2024 general polls.

He had rebelled for the seat, among the safest for the BJP, and said that a ticket had been given to "outside" candidates for several years now, while local party workers were being ignored. He had also flagged the lack of communication from the leadership with grassroot functionaries, PTI reported.

On Monday, Shetty announced that he will support the party's official nominee, Sanjay Upadhyay.

Sada Sarvankar firm on decision

However, despite Shetty's decision to not contest as an Independent candidate, the headache for the Mahayuti continued as Sada Sarvankar refused to pull out from the contest in Mahim on a Shiv Sena ticket, amid pressure from the party leadership. He is pitted against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray's son Amit, who has the backing of the BJP, a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti along with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Meanwhile, the BJP also managed to get rebel Nana Kate to withdraw his nomination from the Chinchwad in Pune district, leaving the seat clear of intra-party hurdles for official candidate Shankat Jagtap, who is pitted against Rahul Kalate of NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) for the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024.

There were good tidings in Pune for the Congress as well after Mukhtar Shaikh withdrew from the Kasba Peth Assembly Constituency and announced his support to the party's official candidate Ravindra Dhangekar.

Shiv Sena candidates Rajashri Aherrao from Deolali and Dhanraj Mahale from Dindori (Nashik), who hit the headlines after their AB forms (essential poll documents from the party) were ferried on special aircraft, also withdrew their nominations.

The two were fielded by the Shiv Sena despite the seats being officially allotted to ally NCP as part of the Mahayuti's seat sharing agreement.

The voting for the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 will take place in 288 seats in a single phase on November 20. The votes will be counted on November 23.

(With PTI inputs)