In the Congress’ Kolhapur North Assembly constituency, the party’s representative Madhurimaraje Chhatrapati, who belongs to the ruling family of Kolhapur, withdrew from the race on Monday, the last day for withdrawal of nominations.
Madhurimaraje’s move came amid intense factionalism and infighting within the Congress unit in Kolhapur, which is considered one of the party’s traditional strongholds in western Maharashtra.
Madhurimaraje is the daughter-in-law of Congress leader Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj, who won the Kolhapur parliamentary seat in the recent Lok Sabha elections by defeating the Shiv Sena candidate by about 1.55 lakh votes.
As per the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) seat-sharing agreement for the November 20 state Assembly elections, Kolhapur North has been allotted to the Congress as the seat is held by the party.
Rejecting a ticket to its MLA Jayshree Chandrakant Jadhav, the Congress started fielding local party leader Rajesh Latkar as its nominee from Kolhapur North. Later, the party replaced Latkar with Madhurimaraje as its first candidate, her husband Malojiraje who was also a Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2009.
Latkar however refused to withdraw his bid, submitting his name as an independent candidate.
Madhurimaraje also launched her election campaign in the district, with her candidacy supported by Congress MLC Satej Patil.
Both Shahu Maharaj and Patil tried to get Latkar out of the race, but he refused, as the Kolhapur faction seems to be divided on the issue.
Ultimately, Madhurimaraje was forced to withdraw his nomination. Shahu Maharaj said, “Unfortunately, Madhurimaraje has withdrawn from Kolhapur North district. Latkar is a good and honest leader of Congress. He refused to withdraw his position as an Independent. In this situation, we have decided not to contest the seat. Also, taking a step back is a step forward in making a debut in the future.”
Patil, however, was disappointed. “The withdrawal of a member of Congress from this district at the last minute is not right. I am disappointed. If the candidate would have withdrawn, he should not have been given a ticket.”
The Congress now seems to be left with no option but to support its “rebel” face Latkar in the region.
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