Mumbai: All the candidates for the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections have filed their nomination on October 29. Several key families are in the fray including the Pawars in Baramati and Rane family from Konkan region. After being elected as the MP from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Narayan Rane has now fielded his both sons Nilesh and Nitesh from the Kudal and Kankavali assembly seats.
Both the Kudal and Kankavali assembly constituencies fall under the Sindhudurg LS constituency. The ensuing state polls will determine whether the Rane family retains its stronghold in the Konkan region. However, the contest won't be easy as the region is set to witness a fierce battle between Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.
The Sena V/s Sena Fight
The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has fielded BJP MP Narayan Rane’s elder son Nilesh Rane from the Kudal seat against the two-term sitting MLA Vaibhav Naik from Shiv Sena (UBT) Nilesh exited the BJP to join the Sena to be able to contest from Kudal-Malvan as the Mahayuti had left the seat for Shiv Sena in the seat-sharing.
Notably, Naik is not only a Sena UBT candidate but is a staunch opponent of the Rane family. Naik also had defeated Narayan Rane from the Kudal assembly seat in 2014 when Rane contested with a Congress ticket.
After the division of Shiv Sena, it is the first assembly elections where the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena will compete against each other. In Maharashtra, the coastal belt, Konkan region has broadly been dominated by the Shiv Sena (undivided). It is not only an electoral contest but a fight to retain their strongholds.
Dominance Of Rane Family
BJP has renominated Narayan Rane's younger son, Nitesh from Kankavali assembly seat. Nitesh is the two-term sitting MLA from the constituency. In 2019 assembly polls, Nitesh defeated Shiv Sena candidate Satish Sawant with a margin of 28,116 votes. While in 2014 assembly elections Nitesh fought with a Congress ticket and defeated BJP candidate Pramod Jathar. This election, Sena UBT has fielded Sandesh Parker against Nitesh Rane from Kankavali.
While, Nilesh Rane has also been former MP from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency. Narayan Rane too has been the MLA from Konkan region in the past.
Recent Controversy
Recently, a national controversy erupted from the district of Sindhurdurg, when a newly erected statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s collapsed. PM Modi himself apologized to the people of Maharashtra after the mishap and the government now is in the process of building another statue at the same spot.
However, since then the region has come into the national limelight and the for both Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi it will be a tough contest in the assembly polls, undoubtedly.
