Chandrakant Patil names BJP candidates for 4 seats in Satara district

Mumbai: State BJP chief Chandrakant Patil created a flutter on Tuesday by announcing the names of four of his party’s candidates from Satara for the Vidhan Sabha polls, even as the seat-sharing deal between the saffron party and Shiv Sena is yet to be finalised.

“Whether the alliance happens or not, Madan Bhosale from Wai, Mahesh Shinde from Koregaon, Atul Bhosale from South Karad and Manoj Ghorpade from North Karad will be the BJP’s Satara candidates,” he said.

The BJP chief had earlier said that his party would definitely ally itself with the Shiv Sena. There is the issue of exchanging some seats, but we will solve it amicably, he had said.

However, later he not only announced the names of the four candidates but also asked his party workers to get ready for the assembly polls.

Along with the Satara Lok Sabha seat, Shiv Sena also has several Assembly seats in the district under its belt. However, Mr Patil’s announcement has made its ally uncomfortable.

The BJP has recently inducted NCP MLA Shivendraraje Bhosale and Congress MLA Jaykumar Gore from Satara and Phaltan constituencies respectively into the party. Both the leaders have been reportedly assured tickets by the BJP for the assembly polls.

“The code of conduct for Assembly election is likely to be imposed within a fortnight. Hence, the infusion of leaders into the party will increase in the coming days. We have planned it out to ensure that all our candidates win the polls,” said Mr Patil.