BJP vs Sena in Maharashtra: Nitesh Rane wins on BJP ticket, Sena retains two seats

After BJP gave ticket to Nitesh from Kankavli, Sena raised the red flag and fielded Satish Sawant — a former aide of Narayan Rane. Nitesh defeated Sawant by 28,166 votes from the seat.

maharashtra assembly election results, Maharashtra BJP results, BJP nitesh rane, bjp vs sena, bjp vs shiv sena, Sindhudurg district, Kankavli, Indian express

nitesh rane, nitesh rane letter, shiv sena guinness books, shiv sena maharashtra govt, shiv sena news, latest news, indian express

In Sindhudurg district of Konkan region, where allies BJP and Shiv Sena contested against each other, the Sena managed to retain its two seats, while former CM Narayan Rane’s son Nitesh — who fought on a BJP ticket — also won.

Nitesh’s entry into the BJP, a few days before filing nomination and the proposed entry of Narayan Rane, had become a bone of contention between the two allies. Rane senior was the Maharashtra CM when he was with Sena in 1999. He was expelled by Sena and joined Congress in 2005. He went on to become a minister in Congress-NCP government. In 2017, he formed Maharashtra Swabhimani Paksha, which he recently merged with BJP.

After BJP gave ticket to Nitesh from Kankavli, Sena raised the red flag and fielded Satish Sawant — a former aide of Narayan Rane. Nitesh defeated Sawant by 28,166 votes from the seat. “I might have fought against a particular candidate, but that will not play any role when we will have to take a stand together for public good. We will have to keep political differences aside to take forward development projects,” Nitesh said.

In Sawantwadi, Sena’s sitting MLA and Minister Deepak Kesarkar defeated Independent candidate Rajan Teli, who was openly supported by the BJP. In Kudal, Sena’s sitting MLA Vaibhav Naik defeated Ranjit Desai (Independent), also backed by the BJP.

Sushant Kulkarni

Sushant Kulkarni is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express in Pune with 12+ years of experience covering issues related to Crime, Defence, Internal Security and Courts. He has been associated with the Indian Express since July 2010. Sushant has extensively reported on law and order issues of Pune and surrounding area, Cyber crime, narcotics trade and terrorism. His coverage in the Defence beat includes operational aspects of the three services, the defence research and development and issues related to key defence establishments. He has covered several sensitive cases in the courts at Pune. Sushant is an avid photographer, plays harmonica and loves cooking. ... Read More