Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nana Kate on Monday withdrew his candidature as an independent candidate from the Chinchwad Assembly constituency. Following this, Kate said he had decided to support Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Shankar Jagtap in the polls.
"I received a call from Dada (Ajit Pawar), after which all corporators of Chinchwad got together and decided that in the upcoming elections, we will stand in support of Shankar Jagtap," Kate told reporters.
NCP and BJP are a part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
Later in the day, Kate spoke with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the phone. The audio clip of this phone call has gone viral on social media.
In the clip, the two leaders can be heard speaking about the neighbouring Maval Assembly seat, where NCP has renominated incumbent MLA Sunil Shelke, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has not fielded any candidate and instead decided to extend its support to independent Bapu Bhegade.
Kate urged Fadnavis that BJP workers should campaign for Shelke. "Yes, definitely. We are with Shelke. For those who have left, I won't give any guarantee. It is their personal enmity. I have personally spoken to Shelke. He knows how much effort I have made. Chandrashekhar Bawankule also mediated for about four hours, but they aren't in any mood to listen," Fadnavis was heard saying. Kate replied, "The way we are following the dharma of Mahayuti in Chinchwad, you too follow it in Maval." "100%, we will follow," Fadnavis stated.
Bhegade, the former state vice president of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, resigned from his post after he was denied a ticket and Shelke was renominated.
Former state minister Bala Bhegade, who was vying for a ticket from the seat from the BJP, has announced his support for the independent candidate. Bala Bhegade himself has won from the seat twice, in 2009 and 2014. In 2019, Shelke, who had earlier been with the BJP, joined the NCP and contested from the seat. After the split in the NCP, Shelke joined the Ajit Pawar faction.
Earlier, the local BJP unit had passed a resolution not to work for Shelke if he got the ticket from the Mahayuti.
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