Mumbai, Maharashtra (Sept. 23, 2024): Madhukar Ralebhat, a leader from the Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) and the Shiv Sena (Shivaji Park), joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today, ahead of the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Ralebhat joined party in the presence of Chandrashekhar Bawankule, president of the BJP's state unit, and senior party leader Devendra Fadnavis.
"I welcome Madhukar Ralebhat to the party. Many other leaders have also joined the party along with him... None of them was born with a silver spoon, all of them are very hardworking and do good work. Only a respectable person can understand the pain of a respectable person and we listen to the pain of such people. In Maharashtra, our government takes decisions immediately. Whether it is a water problem or any other problem, we take every decision as soon as possible. The entire Karjat Jamkhed district is facing a water problem, we will solve it," Mahrashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said as quoted by ANI.
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Ralebhat's entry into the BJP is expected to directly affect Rohit Pawar, a legislator from Karjat-Jamkhed and Sharad Pawar's grandson. Ralebhat was a close associate of Rohit Pawar, and with the upcoming assembly elections, the BJP is looking to complicate Rohit's campaign by bringing in leaders from Sharad Pawar's faction.
The Maharashtra legislative assembly elections will be contested in 288 constituencies, with the Election Commission of India yet to announce the election dates.
The upcoming elections will see a contest between the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition, which includes the UBT Shiv Sena, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress, and the Maha Yuti Alliance, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction).
The recent Lok Sabha elections provided a boost to the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, which secured a total of 30 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning nine, Congress 13, and NCP-SP eight. In contrast, the Maha Yuti Alliance won only 17 seats, with BJP securing nine, Shiv Sena seven, and NCP one.