The Congress laid speculation to rest by announcing Pratibha Dhanorkar as its candidate for the Chandrapur Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra on Saturday night. However, the announcement was marked by a fierce intra-party battle in the local party unit.
Ms. Dhanorkar, widow of the late Suresh ‘Balu’ Dhanrokar who secured the sole victory for Congress in the western State in the 2019 general election, had got the nod due to her husband’s untimely death. She is also a Congress MLA from Warora in the district and is said to have had the support of State unit chief Nana Patole.
The delay in announcing her candidature, which came three days before the last date for filing nomination papers (March 27), has been attributed to intense competition within the party, as local stalwart and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Vijay Wadettiwar sought the ticket for his daughter Shivani.
