Maharashtra elections: Nilesh Rane set to join Shinde's Sena for Kudal ticket

Mumbai: Nilesh Rane, son of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane, is set to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena so that he can contest the assembly election from Kudal in Sindhudurg district in the Konkan.

According to the seat-sharing formula in the Mahayuti alliance, the constituency is with the Shiv Sena, and to contest from Kudal, Nilesh will have to switch from the BJP to the Sena. The Kudal constituency is currently represented by Vaibhav Naik from the Shiv Sena (UBT). He is an arch rival of the Ranes.

Rane Senior met chief minister Eknath Shinde on Monday to discuss his son’s candidacy. Nilesh is expected to join the Sena on October 23.

Nilesh is keen on contesting from Kudal as it is a part of his father’s Lok Sabha constituency, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg. The adjoining assembly constituency, Kankavali, is represented by his younger brother Nitesh, who is with the BJP.

Without naming Nilesh, Vaibhav Naik said “he was contesting from various parties to date”. Sena minister and Ratnagiri MLA, Uday Samant said, “We will support him.”

Nilesh could not be reached for comment. Earlier, he had told the media he would “make it to the Maharashtra assembly this time”.

Nilesh Rane, earlier with the Congress, was the MP from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency from 2009 to 2014. He joined the BJP in 2014 and lost the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Sindhudurg district has three assembly seats – Kankavali, Kudal and Sawantwadi. State education minister Deepak Kesarkar (Shiv Sena) is the Mahayuti’s candidate from Sawantwadi and will face off with the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Rajan Teli, a one-time associate of Narayan Rane.