Twist in MLC poll as Sena MLA Sattar fields son against BJP

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The upcoming MLC election for Aurangabad-cum-Jalna Local Authorities constituency witnessed a major twist with Shiv Sena Sillod MLA Abdul Sattar fielding his son Sameer on Monday.

While the seat has gone to BJP in the seat-sharing agreement between Mahayuti partners, with district president Suhas Shirsath named as the party candidate, the rebellion by Sattar may spark rift within the two ruling parties.

“Today’s situation (created by BJP) is like slow-poisoning for Sena. They want to eliminate Sena and are conquering our bastions one by one. We have to act now to secure the future,” Sattar told newspersons after his son purchased the nomination form.

Sattar also trained guns on BJP minister Atul Save for allegedly not providing funds to Sillod municipal council ruled by Sena.

Reacting, Save said the rebellion by Sattar means that he does not toe the party line and defies orders of DCM Eknath Shinde. “The decision to offer Aurangabad-cum-Jalna Local Authorities constituency to BJP was taken after discussions between the CM and two DCMs. Sattar should talk with DCM Shinde instead of blaming us,” he said.

June 4 is the last date for withdrawal of nominations and all eyes will be on Sattar to see whether he takes on BJP or not.

On MVA front, Devyani Dongaonkar of Shiv Sena (UBT) will be contesting the poll for Aurangabad-cum-Jalna Local Authorities constituency. Even if numbers are not her side, Dongaonkar, a former Zilla Parishad president of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, is expected to get political mileage being in the race for MLC post.

The constituency for Parbhani-cum-Hingoli Local Authorities will witness a fight between two factions of Sena. While Sena-led by DCM Eknath Shinde has fielded Saeed Khan as a candidate, Sena (UBT) has named Vivek Navandar as the MVA candidate.

For Nanded Local Authorities constituency, BJP has fielded sitting MLC Amarnath Rajurkar. Considered as the close confidant of Rajya Sabha member of BJP Ashok Chavan, Rajurkar had also joined BJP along with Chavan and expected another term in the upper house of the state legislature. He will face a fight against Ramdas Patil,​ a Congress candidate.

The BJP has​ also fielded Basavraj Patil for the Osmanabad-cum-Latur-cum-Beed Local Authorities constituency polls. A former minister, Patil had left Congress and joined BJP in Feb 2024. He will take on Mahesh Deshmukh of Congress.

The MLC polls are scheduled on June 18 and counting of votes is scheduled on June 22, as per official schedule.

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