Pune: Nana Kate Refuses to Withdraw from Chinchwad Assembly Race

As leaders of all major parties in Maharashtra worked on Thursday to persuade rebels to withdraw from the assembly elections and prevent vote splits that could lead to defeat, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar met with independent candidate Nana Kate from the Chinchwad assembly seat in Pune district, urging him to withdraw from the race. However, Kate remained resolute in his decision to contest.

Despite Ajit Pawar's NCP efforts to secure the constituency in the seat-sharing arrangement, the BJP has claimed the Chinchwad Assembly seat and nominated Shankar Jagtap, the party's Pimpri-Chinchwad chief. His sister-in-law, Ashwini Jagtap, currently serves as the MLA. Meanwhile, the NCP (SP) has put forward Rahul Kalate, while former NCP corporators Nana Kate and Bhausaheb Bhoir have declared their intention to run as independent candidates.

Glance at Chinchwad constituency

The ruling alliance, known as the Mahayuti, includes the Nationalist Congress Party, the BJP, and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena. The deadline for withdrawal of nominations is November 4, and results for the 288-member assembly will be announced on November 23.

Laxman Jagtap held the Chinchwad seat since 2009. Following his passing in 2023, a bypoll was conducted, resulting in his wife, Ashwini Jagtap, being nominated by the BJP. Nana Kate contested against her but was unsuccessful.

Recently, reports surfaced indicating that Ajit Pawar proposed to the BJP an exchange of Chinchwad for another seat in the state. He allegedly presented this offer to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and mentioned that if the issue remained unresolved at the state level, he would go to Delhi to discuss it with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. However, this plan did not materialize, and the seat stayed with the BJP.