Mumbai: The byelection to the Satara Lok Sabha seat will now be held simultaneously with the Vidhan Sabha poll in the state.
The decision to hold the bypoll was taken after the Bombay high court decided on a petition pertaining to the Satara Lok Sabha seat. The order reached the commission on Monday.
The bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Udayanraje Bhosale, who has joined the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP).
While the firebrand lea-der — a direct descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj — is likely to contest the seat on a BJP ticket, he dropped a bom-bshell on Tuesday by an-nouncing that he would drop out of the race if NCP chief Sharad Pawar contests from Satara, the latter’s pocket borough.
An emotional Mr Bhosale said he still “held Pawarsaheb in the highest regard”. “I will always revere him. After my father, he was the one who showed me the greatest affection. If he decides to contest from Satara, I will not fight,” the BJP leader said.
The Maratha strongman had launched scathing attacks on Mr Bhosale after he joined the saffron party, asking his supporters to ensure his defeat in the bypoll.
After the bypoll was announced, the BJP’s ally Shiv Sena said that it would support Mr Bhosale’s candidature in Satara. According to the alliance’s seat-sharing formula, the Satara seat belongs to the Sena. In the recent general election, the Sena had fielded Narendra Patil, but Mr Bhosale — who contested on an NCP ticket — trounced him by over 1.20 lakh votes.
“We are in an alliance. Let Mr Bhosale contest the bypoll. We will decide which seat to exchange in place of Satara in the 2024 election,” said Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut.
