In a significant political development, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, October 17, has announced its decision to withdraw its candidate from the November 3 assembly by-election in Mumbai’s Andheri (East).
BJP’s Maharashtra state chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said this development came after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Balasahebchi Shiv Sena’s MLA Pratap Sarnaik urged the BJP not to contest the East Andheri bypoll in reverence to late Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke. Therefore, they sought an unopposed election of Rutuja Latke from the seat. For those unversed, Latke had died of a cardiac arrest in May this year.
Murji Patel, who had filed the nomination from the BJP, will now withdraw it. Otherwise, BJP would have won the election, he claimed.
The seat fell vacant due to the untimely demise of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke. His widow Rutuja Latke is contesting as a candidate of Shiv Sena - Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray.
Latke was a BMC employee and resigned from her post before filing the nomination for the bypoll.
If reports are to be believed, Raj Thackeray in his letter to deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday, October 16, appealed to withdraw the BJP candidate as a respect to the deceased. While Fadnavis said the party will contemplate on this, surprisingly Shinde faction MLA Pratap Sarnaik too made a similar appeal.
अंधेरी (पूर्व) पोट-निवडणुकीत भारतीय जनता पक्षाचा उमेदवार उभा न करण्याचा निर्णय घेतलात ह्याबद्दल @Dev_Fadnavis आणि पक्षातील वरिष्ठ नेतेमंडळींचे शतश: आभार. उमद्या राजकीय संस्कृतीसह राजकीय मंचावर आपापले मुद्दे घेऊन राजकीय पक्षांनी निकोप स्पर्धा करावी हीच आमची धारणा ! pic.twitter.com/VKmmJl3Gno
— Raj Thackeray (@RajThackeray) October 17, 2022
Today, October 17, is the last day for withdrawal of nominations for the bypoll.
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