Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat in Konkan Maharashtra is witnessing an interesting battle. In contention are Shiv Sena's sitting MP Vinayak Raut, veteran politician Narayan Rane's son Nilesh Rane contesting from newly floated outfit Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha and Congress candidate Navinchandra Bandivadekar.
After delimitation in 2008, the constituency was created and in 2009, Nilesh Rane won on a Congress ticket from here. He had defeated senior Sena leader Suresh Prabhu. However in 2014, the Modi wave meant Vinayak Raut winning by a comfortable 1.5 lakh margin. Of the six assembly segments under Ratnagairi-Sindhudurg, five are under Sena and Nilesh Rale in MLA from the sixth seat. That shows Sena's domination in the area, but one can't rule out the legacy of Narayan Rane. Rane is a former CM of Maharashtra and is currently a Rajya Sabha MP with BJP support. Rane is a bitter critic of Sena leadership and is fighting for political relevance. The assembly segments under Ratnagairi -Sindhudurg are: Chiplun, Ratnagiri,Rajapur, Kankavli, Kudal and Sawantwadi.
The Congress candidate attracted controversy over his endorsement of Sanatan Sanstha, which has serious terror charges against it.Ratnagiri- Sindhudurg goes to polls on April 23.
The 48 seats of Maharashtra are going to polls in four phases. The main parties are BJP, Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP. After contesting separately in last assembly elections, BJP and Sena are contesting together and so in Congress and NCP. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) of Prakash Ambedkar has also put up candidates in all seats. Raj Thackeray's MNS is not contesting this election, though he has openly canvassed for Congress- NCP alliance.
A total of 14 Lok Sabha seats will go to polls on April 23 during the third phase.They include Jalgaon, Raver, Jalna, Aurangabad, Raigad, Pune, Baramati, Ahmednagar, Madha, Sangli, Satara, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Kolhapur and Hatkanangle.
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