The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on April 1 expressed confidence it would at least be contesting on 16 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the State, even as the tussle over the key Nashik Lok Sabha seat in northern Maharashtra continued among the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
Given that the incumbent MP of Nashik – Hemant Godse – is from the Shinde Sena, the party has claimed the Nashik seat as belonging to its quota. However, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction is aggressively gunning for the candidacy of senior Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, currently an MLA from Yeola in Nashik. Last week, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena has announced its first list of eight candidates.
Shinde Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat maintained that his party would not settle for less than 16 Lok Sabha seats.
“Within the next two days, it will be clear who will contest which seat. We estimate that the Nashik, Sindhudurg and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar seats will be allotted to us. We are preparing to contest 16 to 18 seats. We will not get less than 16 seats,” Mr. Shirsat said.
While there is a tug-of-war between the Shinde Sena and the NCP (Ajit Pawar) faction over the Nashik seat, both the BJP and Mr. Shinde’s faction have staked claim on the Sambhajinagar and Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituencies.
Mr. Shirsat also remained firm on the Shiv Sena securing the Nashik seat. “We are going to take it. We have a sitting MP there,” he said.
The BJP has thus far announced candidates on 24 Lok Sabha seats while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP has officially declared it candidates for the Baramati and Shirur Lok Sabha seats, while giving the Parbhani seat to Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) chief Mahadev Jankar.
Following the split in the Uddhav Thackeray-led undivided Shiv Sena in June 2022, 13 of the 18 Lok Sabha MPs have gone over to Mr. Shinde’s camp.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hemant Godse, the current MP of Nashik from the Shinde camp, has already hit the campaign trail.
However, Chhagan Bhujbal, a prominent leader of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction, has indicated that he will be contesting the seat and that his candidature had already been ‘cleared’ by Delhi.
“I was told that my name was decided in the meeting of the Mahayuti alliance held in New Delhi despite me saying that I did not want to contest. But this [Mr. Bhujbal’s apparent candidacy] was confirmed by Devendra Fadnavis. Once the party and alliance has made up its mind, then I will contest will all my strength,” Mr. Bhujbal said.
Nashik goes to the polls in the fifth phase on May 20.
