Congress, NCP announce support to Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena in Andheri bypolls

“The Andheri assembly byelection will be contested jointly by all the three parties of the MVA (Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi). The Congress and the NCP have decided to support our candidate,” Parab, flanked by Mumbai Congress chief Bhai Jagtap and NCP leader Rakhi Jadhav, told reporters.

The bypoll will be held against the backdrop of the vertical split in the Shiv Sena in June this year and the ensuing court battle between the two factions – belonging to Thackeray and Eknath Shinde. “In the past, Shiv Sena has extended its support to candidates of the Congress and the NCP. Shiv Sena’s Ramesh Latke had won the 2019 assembly elections from Andheri (East); thus, we have decided to field his wife in this election,” Parab said.

Murji Patel is likely to be the nominee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the polls. The Shinde faction, which shares power with the BJP in the state, is yet to clarify its position on contesting the bypoll necessitated by the death of Ramesh Latke in May this year.