NCP's Satish Chavan may contest on Congress ticket

AURANGABAD: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)

MLC

Satish Chavan may shift his allegiance to Congress to contest the Lok Sabha election from Aurangabad seat, provided party chief Sharad Pawar approves the move.

The district unit Congress too has hinted at such a possibility but with caution. Party’s district president Abdul Sattar said that three candidates are under contention for the Aurangabad contest. The party is considering MLC Subhash Zambad, Congress city unit president Namdeo Pawar and Satish Chavan of the NCP.

However, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Pawar will take the final decision on the candidature. “We will abide by their decision,” Sattar and other leaders said.

NCP sources said that Chavan has been touring the district as a part of his Lok Sabha poll preparation for months, especially after the talks of the NCP swapping the Ahmednagar seat for Aurangabad picked pace.

Since Ahmednagar chapter is closed after senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil’s son Sujay joined BJP, Chavan will have to contest from Aurangabad on Congress ticket with the consent of the top leaders.

They also admitted that Chavan himself was keen on contesting on Congress ticket but his deep connections within NCP would be hampered if he took any independent decision.

Sattar and other leaders told newsmen on Wednesday “It is for sure that the Congress will contest from Aurangabad and Jalna constituencies.”

In Jalna, the Congress is planning to give state BJP chief Raosaheb Danve a run for his money. The Congress has kept two options open — to rope in Sena minister Arjun Khotkar or to field arch rival Kalyan Kale. A former MLA from Phulamri, Kale had lost Jalna seat to Danve in 2009 by a narrow margin of 7,000 votes. There are three assembly segments in Aurangabad district — Sillod, Phulamri and Paithan — in the Jalna parliamentary constituency.

On Tuesday, a number of Shiv Sena workers staged demonstrations in front of Khotkar’s residence in Jalna demanding him to contest the election against Danve. Incidentally, Danve has been trying to patch up with Khotkar, his bete noir, but to no avail.

Khotkar, who has been avoiding the media, has taken a stand that he would follow Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s directions.