Nilesh Rane, son of BJP leader and former Union Minister Narayan Rane, will join the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday and will contest from the Kudal-Malvan constituency in the upcoming Assembly polls.According to the seat-sharing formula in the Mahayuti alliance, the constituency is with the Shiv Sena, and to contest from Kudal, Nilesh will have to switch from the BJP to the Sena. The Kudal constituency is currently represented by Vaibhav Naik from the Shiv Sena (UBT). He is an arch rival of the Ranes.
After BJP leader Nilesh Rane joined Shiv Sena, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde said, "People have gathered in such large numbers. So, Nilesh Rane will win with a lead of 52,000 votes." Nilesh Rane, earlier with the Congress, was the MP from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency from 2009 to 2014. He joined the BJP in 2014 and lost the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Sindhudurg district has three assembly seats – Kankavali, Kudal and Sawantwadi. State education minister Deepak Kesarkar (Shiv Sena) is the Mahayuti’s candidate from Sawantwadi and will face off with the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Rajan Teli, a one-time associate of Narayan Rane.
Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls, Narayan said the need of the hour is to introspect if the fragmented political scenario in the state is conducive to people's welfare and their interests. The repeated change in ideology and even constituency impacts the state's economy and the fiscal deficit is growing, BJP leader Rane said while coming down heavily on Shiv Sena (UBT) head and former CM Uddhav Thackeray. Rane feels the ruling Mahayuti (comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar's NCP) has an edge in the assembly polls, scheduled on November 20, due to BJP's strong leadership at the Centre.