Mallikarjun Kharge and Nana Patole
With the nominations withdrawn, the final picture of who will contest for the 288 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly has become clear. The Congress is contesting from around 102 seats in the state and the party also has one such seat in its account where it will contest with a pressure cooker symbol instead of a paw symbol. This seat is located in Kolhapur North.
Let’s take a closer look at how the race plays out in the Kolhapur North seat, considered a traditional seat of the Congress.
Congressional candidate withdraws nomination
Jayshree Jadhav won the Kolhapur North seat on the Congress ticket in 2019. This time, the party gave the ticket to Madhurima Raje, a descendant of Chhatrapati Sahu Maharaj, in place of Jayashree. Angered by this, Jaishri joined Shinde’s Shiva Sena.
Here, after getting the votes, Madhurima initially campaigned vigorously but eventually Madhurima withdrew her nomination form.
He said the inability to manage the Congress rebels was the main reason for withdrawing his nomination. Madhurima’s withdrawal of nomination has exacerbated the Congress’ problems in Kolhapur. Because the party had no choice at the last moment.
People who got tickets also cried
Maharashtra Legislative Council member Satej Patil was instrumental in getting Madhurima Raje seat from Kolhapur North seat. The first information Madhurima gave to Satej Patil was when she returned the ticket.
Patil began crying among people in Kolhapur on Monday. Patil said he gave me this information at the last moment. From Mumbai to Delhi, people are debating who should replace Madhurima as the candidate.
Kolhapur is the stronghold of the Congress Party
Kolhapur is considered the stronghold of the Congress party. In the 2019 Assembly elections, the Congress won 3 out of 6 Kolhapur Lok Sabha seats. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress is leading in 5 of the 6 seats in Kolhapur. Congress is vying with Shinde’s Shiv Sena for most of the seats here.
Kolhapur North constituency was formed in 2009. Shiv Sena was winning from here at that time. In 2014, Shiv Sena also won from here. Congress MP Chandrakant Jadhav won in 2019 and entered Parliament, but he died in 2022. Congress later sent his wife to take his place.
Strategies to make Latkar a candidate
Congress is formulating a strategy for independent candidate Rajesh Latkar after Madhurima Raje quit the race. Latkar received the pressure cooker election symbol from the Election Commission. Latkar had joined the Congress in 2022, but this time he submitted his nomination as an independent candidate because he did not get a ticket.
Now the situation has changed and the Congress local unit is only in favor of supporting Rajesh. A proposal has also been sent to Mumbai and Delhi for this purpose.
Rajesh Latkar inherited political ideas from his father. His father, Bharat Latkar, was an important leader of the Seva Dal. However, Rajesh also joined Sharad Pawar’s party for a few years. However, the Congress is yet to officially announce Rajesh’s name.
It is said that the party will announce Rajesh’s name at a press conference once it receives the green signal from Delhi. In Kolhapur, Rajesh is competing against Shiv Sena’s Rajesh Khilsagar in Shinde.
Congress allies with Uddhav, Sharad
This time the Congress is in alliance with Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar’s NCP in Maharashtra. Apart from these two parties, the Congress alliance also includes the Shetkari Party and the CPM.
Polling is recommended for 288 seats in Maharashtra on November 20. The main competition here is between the Congress alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party alliance. This time, there are four other parties in the BJP alliance, including the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, the Shiv Sena led by Ajit Pawar National Communist Party (NCP).
Maharashtra, the third-largest state in terms of seats, needs 145 MLAs to form the government.
