Andheri East bypoll: BJP tried to maintain Maharashtra's tradition, says CM Eknath Shinde

Shinde said the late Ramesh Latke, the Andheri (east) MLA whose death necessitated the bypoll, was his colleague

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.

Shinde said the late Ramesh Latke, the Andheri (east) MLA whose death necessitated the bypoll, was his colleague.

He said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray and his party colleague Pratap Sarnaik had appealed against the electoral contest.

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We have seen that whenever there is such an election, the polls are held unopposed. I held discussions with Deputy Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on this. The BJP has tried to maintain the tradition (of not fielding candidates against family members of a deceased legislator) and has withdrawn from the race, Shinde told reporters.

Shinde, the leader of 'Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena', shares power with BJP in the state.

He became chief minister in June this year after rebelling against Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena with most of its MLAs. The rebellion led to the collapse of the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government headed by Thackeray.

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