Published 20:48 IST, October 17th 2019
Maharashtra: BJP's Nitesh Rane projected to beat Shiv Sena in Kankavli
The BJP may have a slight edge over its ally Shiv Sena in Kankavli constituency after fielding former Maharashtra CM's son Nitesh Rana against Sena's Sawant
The campaign for the Maharashtra assembly has entered its last lap and will witness a tough fight between alliances itself. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will go up against its own alliance in the state, Shiv Sena for the Kankavli constituency in the Sindhudurg district. Kankavli has already seen the temperature rise as the Sena Chief slammed BJP for fielding Nitesh Rane as their contestant after he just quit the Indian National Congress (INC). BJP's Nitesh Rane is also the son of former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Narayan Rane, who is struggling in his fortress of Sindhudurg district in Konkan. The former Chief Minister had merged his outfit Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha (MSP) with the BJP after he quit the Congress in 2017.
Jan ki Baat Opinion Poll's Result
According to the Jan ki Baat Opinion Polls in Sindhudurg's Kankavali, the BJP might just have a slight edge against Sena's Satish Jagannath Singh to win the seat.
Rane had earlier won the 2014 Assembly seat with Congress' ticket but soon quit the party and formed the MSP. In the upcoming state polls, while BJP has fielded Narayan's son, Nitesh Rane, the Shiv Sena has given their ticket to Satish Jagannath Sawant. Despite being in an alliance with the BJP, the Sena cadres had strongly opposed BJP for fielding Rane soon after he quit Congress. The candidates who will be locking horns with the BJP and Sena cadre are INC's Sushil Amrutrao Rane and MNS' Rajan Shankar Dabholkar.
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Narayan Rane had served as the Chief Minister of the Sena-BJP government in 1999 but got expelled from the Sena in 2005 for revolting against now Sena-chief Uddhav Thackeray. Later, he joined the Congress and became a minister. In 2017, Rane quit the Congress and formed the MSP, and became an ally of the BJP-led NDA. Despite being in alliance with the BJP for the polls, Sena fielded a former Narayan Rane loyalist from Kankavli against Nitesh.
Maharashtra's Assumbly Elections
Maharashtra is all set to go for polls on October 21. The results of the polls will be announced on October 24. Along with Maharashtra, the state of Haryana will also witness its Assembly polls on the same date.
Updated 21:45 IST, October 17th 2019