Nitesh will contest Maha polls on BJP ticket: Narayan Rane

Former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane on Wednesday said his son Nitesh Rane will contest the upcoming state Assembly polls from Kankavli seat on BJP's ticket. Talking to PTI, he claimed his son's name will figure in the second list of the BJP.

Nitesh Rane won the 2014 Assembly polls from Kankavli seat in Sindhudurg district on Congress' ticket by defeating the then BJP MLA Pramod Jathar. The ruling BJP on Tuesday declared its first list of 125 candidates for the October 21 state polls, including names of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state unit president Chandrakant Patil, but high-profile figures Eknath Khadse and Vindo Tawde missing from it.

"Nitesh's name will figure in the second list and he will contest from Kankavli," Narayan Rane said. On speculations of merging his Maharashtra Swabhiman Party with the BJP, he said, "It is likely to happen in a week's time." The former state chief minister was earlier in the Shiv Sena, which he quit in 2005 and joined the Congress.

He remained with Congress till 2017 following which he formed his own political outfit and became an ally of the ruling BJP. He is currently the Rajya Sabha member on BJP's ticket.

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