Nilesh Rane, son of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane, joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena ahead of crucial state assembly elections 2024. He joined the ruling party in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde on Thursday.
The development comes after Rane's father made a relentless effort for his son's entry into Shinde's Shiv Sena ahead of the polls. He met Shinde at his official residence on Sunday to discuss a ticket for Nilesh. He has urged the CM to give a ticket to his son from the Kudal assembly constituency, said the sources.
Narayan also called Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The Kudal assembly constituency is currently represented by Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Vaibhav Naik.
Narayan, who merged his party - Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha with the BJP in 2019, has been making efforts to ensure a ticket for his son for the Maharashtra Assembly elections. His efforts fructified as his son got entry into ruling Shiv Sena.
Maharashtra is set to witness a direct fight between two alliances - ruling Mahayuti comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), state Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) led by Sharad Pawar's NCP, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena and Congress. The state will vote in a single phase on November 20 and the counting of votes will take place on November 23.
(With PTI inputs)
