The Congress and NCP extended their support to the candidate picked by Uddhav Thackeray for the upcoming Andheri (East) Assembly byeclection, making it a contest between the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the ruling BJP-Eknath Shinde.
The factions led by Thackeray and Chief Minister Shinde cannot use the name 'Shiv Sena' and the party symbol- 'bow and arrow- for the bypoll, as per the interim order of the Election Commission.
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole met Thackeray earlier in the day. Senior Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab said Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party have decided to support Sena's candidate Rutuja Latke for the November 3 contest.
“The Andheri assembly byelection will be contested jointly by all the three parties of MVA. Congress and the NCP have decided to support our candidate,” Parab, flanked by Mumbai Congress chief Bhai Jagtap and NCP leader Rakhi Jadhav, told reporters.
“In the past, Shiv Sena has extended its support to respective candidates of Congress and the NCP in the previous bye-elections. Shiv Sena’s Ramesh Latke had won the 2019 assembly elections from Andheri (East), thus we have decided to field his wife in this election,” Parab said.
According to the report of PTI, Murji Patel is likely to be the nominee of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Shinde faction, which shares power with BJP in the state, has yet to clarify its position on contesting the bypoll, necessitated by the death of Ramesh Latke.