Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday said the BJP tried to maintain the state's political tradition of not contesting a bypoll, if kin of a deceased legislator enter the fray by withdrawing from the Andheri (east) byelection contest.

Earlier in the day, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Murji Patel withdrew his nomination against Rutuja Latke of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena for the November 3 byelection.