Gavit, Ghoda faceoff in Palghar seat

The fight will be between former Congress minister Rajendra Gavit and Amit Ghoda, son of late Shiv Sena legislator Krishna Ghoda, for the Palghar Assembly by-election scheduled for February 13.

Though both candidates are confident about the result, Shiv Sena claimed that it has a strong network on the ground and also the sympathy votes.

The Election Commission of India announced the by-election for the Palghar Assembly seat on Tuesday. Candidates have to file their nomination from January 20 to 27. They can withdraw their nomination till January 30 and if needed the poll will be taken on February 13. The result will be announced on February 16.

The Palghar Assembly seat fell vacant after Shiv Sena legislator Krishna Ghoda died owing to illness in May 2015. Krishna Ghoda had won the seat in 2014 as a Sena candidate, however he had earlier represented the constituency twice as Congress candidate and once won the seat as a National Congress Party (NCP) candidate. In 2014 Assembly poll, Krishna Ghoda won the election by a margin of just 515 votes against his opponent Congress’ Rajendra Gavit.

According to Anant Tare, deputy leader of Shiv Sena, party chief Uddhav Thackeray had already announced Amit Ghoda’s candidature for Palghar as he is the political heir of Krishna Ghoda.