Nomination withdrawal: Cong left red-faced in Kolhapur North as Madhurima Raje pulls out

Mumbai: The end of the process to withdraw nominations for Maharashtra assembly polls on Monday left the Congress in despair in Kolhapur North seat after its candidate Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati withdrew, while the BJP managed to convince Gopal Shetty to opt out from Mumbai's Borivali.

However, the headache for the Mahayuti continued as Dada Sarvankar, the Shiv Sena candidate from Mahim assembly constituency in Mumbai, braving the pressure from the party leadership, refused to pull out.

He is pitted against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray's son Amit Thackeray, 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 NCP.

In Kolhapur, a visually upset Satej Patil expressed dismay at Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati pulling out of the race, which left 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 MP and royal family member Shahu Chhatrapati.

Sources said she may have pulled out of the race due to the negative publicity over the snub to Latkar.

They added the Congress is likely to support Latkar, who is contesting as an independent.

The BJP got a breather after former MP Shetty, who had won the Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat with margins of more than 4 lakh in 2014 and 2019 before being denied a seat in the 2024 edition, withdrew his nomination as an independent candidate from Borivali and announced he will support the party’s official nominee Sanjay Upadhyay.

Shetty had rebelled claiming the seat, among the safest for the BJP, was being 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.

The BJP also managed to get rebel Nana Kate to withdraw from Chinchwad seat in Pune district, leaving the seat clear of intra-party hurdles for official candidate Shankat Jagtap, who is pitted against Rahul Kalate of NCP (SP).

There were good tidings in Pune for 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 (District 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 Shinde-led Sena despite the seats being officially allotted to ally Ajit Pawar-led NCP as part of the Mahayuti's seat sharing agreement.

Voting will take place in 288 seats of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in a single phase on November 20. The votes will be counted on November 23.