MLC Elections: Congress withdraws Papa Modi's candidature as Rajesh Rathod files nomination

Congress withdraws the candidature of Rajkishor alias Papa Modi as Rajesh Rathod files nomination papers for the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) elections on Monday. 

Rathod, a three-time Zila Parishad member and a youth congress worker, hails from Partur in Jalna district of Maharashtra and is also a leader of the Banjara community in the region. 

The son of former MLA Dhondiram Rathod, Rajesh Rathod is the young face in the party, and his nomination shows that the central leadership of the Congress is ready to trust the fresh faces with leadership roles. It should be noted that Congress President Sonia Gandhi approved Rathod's candidature. 

Earlier, Congress had decided to contest polls to the legislative council on two seats and party’s state unit President Balasaheb Thorat announced the candidature of Rajkishor alias Papa Modi. He is the party’s Beed district President and is an old-timer in Congress who shared good equation with top leaders in Maharashtra. 

However, after Shiv Sena sent a message to Thorat expressing that Uddhav Thackeray was not willing to contest elections unless it was unopposed given the handling of the coronavirus outbreak in Maharashtra. 

As the Congress caved into Shiv Sena’s demands, the Maharashtra Vikas Agadhi (MVA) alliance partner declared that it will withdraw the second nominee for the MLC elections. With this, the stage has been set for unopposed elections to the legislative council in Maharastra on nine vacancies. 

The Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will contest the council polls on two seats each while the Congress has settled for only one. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded four candidates. 

Earlier today, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray filed his nomination papers at Vidhan Bhavan along with Shiv Sena Deputy Leader Neelam Gorhe. They were accompanied by Shiv Sena leaders including Aaditya Thackeray, Subhash Desai and Eknath Shinde. 

Along with the NCP candidates Shashikant Shinde and Amol Mitkari, Congress’ lone candidate Rajesh Rathod also submitted his nominations to the Returning officer this afternoon. The four candidates of the BJP including Ranjitsinh Mohite Paril, Praveen Datke, Gopichand Padalkar and Ajit Gopchede filed their nominations this afternoon from the opposition. 

Also Read - Election To Legislative Council On Nine Seats In Maharashtra To Be Held Unopposed: Sanjay Raut