Abhijit Panse, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) candidate, has officially withdrawn from the fray for the upcoming state legislative council election from the Konkan Graduates’ constituency, a party leader announced on Friday.
Last month, MNS had unveiled filmmaker Panse as their candidate for the legislative council elections scheduled on June 26. “Panse will not be in the fray from the Konkan Graduates’ constituency,” confirmed party spokesperson Sandeep Deshpande.
This development follows a meeting last week between Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and MNS chief Raj Thackeray. BJP MLC Niranjan Davkhare currently represents the constituency and has been renominated. The biennial elections to four legislative council seats—Mumbai Graduates, Konkan Graduates, Mumbai Teachers, and Nashik Teachers—are necessary due to the expiration of terms in July.
The deadline for filing nominations is June 7, with voting on June 26 and results announced on July 1. The Maharashtra legislative council comprises a 78-member house. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has named MLC Anil Parab and J M Abhyankar for the Mumbai Graduates’ and Mumbai Teachers’ constituencies, respectively, while the Congress has nominated Ramesh Keer for the Konkan Graduates’ constituency.
The Shiv Sena has put forward Deepak Sawant for the Mumbai Graduates’ constituency, while Kiran Shelar is the BJP candidate. The BJP is also backing Shivnath Darade, the Maharashtra Rajya Shikshak Parishad candidate, for the Mumbai Teachers’ constituency.
Presently, the Mumbai Teachers, Mumbai Graduates, and Nashik Teachers constituencies are represented by Kapil Patil (JD(U)), Vilas Potnis (Shiv Sena UBT), and independent MLC Kishore Darade, respectively. Among the 78 legislative council seats, the Shiv Sena (undivided) holds 11, NCP (undivided) 9, Congress 8, and BJP 22 seats. Additionally, JD(U), Peasants and Workers Party, and Rashtriya Samaj Paksha have one member each, with four independents and 21 vacant seats.
