Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati won't contest

Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati withdrew her candidature for the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 from the Kolhapur West Assembly seat leaving the Congress redfaced news agency PTI reportedA visually upset Satej Patil expressed dismay at Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati pulling out of the race in Kolhapur leaving the Congress without representation in one of its western Maharashtra strongholdsThe setback comes after the Congress changed its earlier candidate on the seat excorporator Rajesh Latkar and nominated her after a party office was vandalised by those opposed to the former Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati is the daughterinlaw of Kolhapur Lok Sabha Member of Parliament MP and royal family member Shahu ChhatrapatiQuoting sources PTI stated that Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati may have pulled out of the race owing to the negative publicity over the snub to Latkar They added the Congress is likely to support Latkar who is contesting as an independentMeanwhile the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP managed to convince twotime lawmaker Gopal Shetty to opt out from Mumbais BorivaliShetty who had won the Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat with more than 4 lakh votes in 2014 and 2019 was not given a ticket in the 2024 general pollsHe had rebelled for the seat among the safest for the BJP and said that a ticket had been given to outside candidates for several years now while local party workers were being ignored He had also flagged the lack of communication from the leadership with grassroot functionaries PTI reportedOn Monday Shetty announced that he will support the partys official nominee Sanjay UpadhyaySada Sarvankar firm on decisionHowever despite Shettys decision to not contest as an Independent candidate the headache for the Mahayuti continued as Sada Sarvankar refused to pull out from the contest in Mahim on a Shiv Sena ticket amid pressure from the party leadership He is pitted against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MNS chief Raj Thackerays son Amit who has the backing of the BJP a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti along with the Eknath Shindeled Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawars Nationalist Congress Party NCPMeanwhile the BJP also managed to get rebel Nana Kate to withdraw his nomination from the Chinchwad in Pune district leaving the seat clear of intraparty hurdles for official candidate Shankat Jagtap who is pitted against Rahul Kalate of NCP Sharadchandra Pawar for the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024There were good tidings in Pune for the Congress as well after Mukhtar Shaikh withdrew from the Kasba Peth Assembly Constituency and announced his support to the partys official candidate Ravindra DhangekarShiv Sena candidates Rajashri Aherrao from Deolali and Dhanraj Mahale from Dindori Nashik who hit the headlines after their AB forms essential poll documents from the party were ferried on special aircraft also withdrew their nominationsThe two were fielded by the Shiv Sena despite the seats being officially allotted to ally NCP as part of the Mahayutis seat sharing agreementThe voting for the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 will take place in 288 seats in a single phase on November 20 The votes will be counted on November 23With PTI inputs