The upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls will have brother of jailed underworld gangster, Chhota Rajan, standing for the elections.
The Republican Party of India (Athawale), an ally of the ruling BJP, has fielded Deepak Nikalje, from Phaltan Assembly constituency in Western Maharashtra.
RPI (A), led by Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, has been given six seats as part of the seat-sharing deal between the BJP, Shiv Sena and other smaller allies for the October 21 Maharashtra Assembly election.
Athawale announced the candidates in Mumbai on Wednesday. Deepak Nikalje, who has been with the Republican Party of India for several years, had earlier unsuccessfully fought assembly elections from Chembur in Mumbai on the party’s ticket.
“This time he expressed willingness to fight the election from Phaltan since he belongs to that area and has a good network there,” a senior Republican Party of India leader told news agency Press Trust of India.
Five other seats where Republican Party of India would be fielding candidates are Malshiras in Solapur district, Bhandara and Naigaon in Nanded district, Pathri in Parbhani and Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar in Mumbai.
The 288-member Maharashtra Assembly will go to the polls on October 21 while the results will be declared on October 24.
This time Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aaditya Thackeray will also make his debut from Worli. With this, Aaditya Thackeray will become the first member of the Thackeray family ever to contest an election.
“Aaditya Thackeray’s name has been finalised for the Worli assembly segment. Shiv Sena’s sitting MLA Sunil Shinde will vacate his place for Aaditya,” a close aide of Shiv Sena chief said told news agency PTI.
The development comes amidst the uncertainty over Sena’s proposed poll tie-up with the BJP, but sources have said that the “alliance is very much on”.
In the 2014 elections, the BJP and the Shiv Sena had contested separately over a dispute over sharing of seats. The BJP won maximum 122 out of 260 seats it had contested while the Sena bagged 63 out of 282 seats.
Both the parties later joined hands to form a BJP-led government.