With Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) trying to capture the Dalit votebank by announcing Jaidev Gaikwad for legislative council polls, Congress has followed suit by nominating Sharad Ranpise.
The Congress announced three candidates and is not clear if sitting MLC Ulhas Pawar would be retained.
The Congress announced names of the party’s state unit president Manikrao Thakare, Sanjay Dutt and Ranpise for 11 seats of legislative council, for which elections would be held on July 25. Ranpise, a party loyalist since 1973, was elected to the legislative council in 2002 and if elected this time it would be his second term. The Congress can win four seats of the 11 to be polled. The party is yet to announce its fourth candidate. Vilasrao Deshmukh is lobbying for Ulhas Pawar, whose term ends on July 25.
