Ahead of Bawankule’s outreach campaign, BJP’s show of strength in Sindhudurg-Ratnagiri Lok Sabha seat

The assertion from the local BJP unit ahead of Bawankule’s visit is perceived as a strategy to show BJP’s strength in the district which has been the stronghold of Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray.

In 2019, the contest for Sindhudurg-Ratnagiri Lok Sabha seat was between Shiv Sena (undivided) candidate Vinayak Raut and Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha candidate Nilesh Rane.

Vinayak Raut won the seat bagging 4.58 lakh votes, defeating Nilesh Rane who polled 2.79 lakh votes. It was a replay of 2014 Lok Sabha elections where Nilesh Rane contested as Congress candidate against Vinayak Raut and lost. Nilesh Rane is the son of Union minister Narayan Rane, who is in BJP now.

In 2009, Nilesh Rane had won the seat as Congress candidate. He had defeated former Union Minister Suresh Prabhu of Shiv Sena. It was then considered as a major blow to Thackeray’s Sena.

Insiders in BJP said, “The party is unlikely to give Nilesh Rane a ticket in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

If BJP contests the election, it may consider fielding Union minister Narayan Rane who is a Rajya Sabha MP now.”

The other theory is Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) is keen on contesting from Sindhudurg-Ratnagiri. If that happens, it will be a fierce contest between Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) and Shiv Sena (UBT).

The coastal Konkan region, under which Sindhudurg-Ratnagiri Lok Sabha seat falls, has always been the stronghold of Shiv Sena led by Thackerays.

MSME Minister Narayan Rane, who started his political career in Shiv Sena, had strong hold in the district. Later, following differences with Uddhav Thackeray, he left Shiv Sena to join Congress in 2005. In 2017-18 Rane formed his own independent party Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha. In 2019, he formally joined BJP. He became Union minister for MSME in July 2021 in Narendra Modi cabinet.

With BJP pledging to win 45 plus seats in 2024 polls, Bawankule has embarked on an aggressive outreach campaign across state. The three parties are working together, Bawankule said.

The BJP being the largest party will have the larger share of 28 to 30 seats. The remaining 18 to 20 seats will be divided between Shiv Sena (Shinde) and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction), sources said.

The Sindhudurg-Ratnagiri Lok Sabha seat comprises six Assembly seats. Three Assembly seats namely Kankavli (BJP), Kudal (Shiv Sena UBT) and Sawantwadi (Shinde faction) are in Sindhudurg district. The other three Assembly seats Chiplun (NCP), Ratnagiri (Shinde faction) and Rajapur (Shiv Sena UBT) are in Ratnagiri district.

Two Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) MLAs Deepak Kesarkar (Sawantwadi) and Uday Samant (Ratnagiri) are cabinet ministers in state government. While Kesarkar is school education minister, Samant is industries minister.