Praful Patel aide Jain NCP’s pick for Sunetra’s RS seat

Nagpur: NCP (Ajit Pawar) late on Sunday night picked two-term MLC and Praful Patel loyalist Rajendra Jain from Gondia for the Rajya Sabha seat that fell vacant after Sunetra Pawar took over as deputy CM following her husband's demise. The nomination, cleared by the party's core committee in Mumbai, gives NCP (Ajit Pawar) another Vidarbha face in Parliament's Upper House, along with Patel. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai after the core committee meeting, NCP Maharashtra state president and Lok Sabha member Sunil Tatkare said, "Jain has been declared the official candidate by the party for this seat. He represented the Bhandara-Gondia local self- govt constituency in the Legislative Council for 12 years. The party has unanimously decided to field him from the standpoint of giving the party an opportunity in Vidarbha as well, which was in our minds for a long time."Jain's 2 consecutive terms ran from 2004 to 2010 and 2010 to 2016, both from Gondia-Bhandara local bodies seat.Reacting to the nomination, Jain put his elevation down to staying loyal to the party. Jain said, "I am an honest party worker. Under the guidance of late Ajit dada, I was elected to the Legislative Council twice. Sunetratai, Parth dada, Chhagan Bhujbal saheb, Dilip Walse Patil saheb, Sunil Tatkare saheb and MP Praful Patel saheb have expressed faith that I will work well in Vidarbha and fulfil the dream of late Ajit dada."Patel is said to be Jain's political mentor for over two decades, with the 2004 MLC win widely read as Patel's call. Jain polled 187 votes in the Gondia local self-govt contest that year, defeating BJP's Brahmanand Karanjekar by 44 votes, before retaining the merged Bhandara-Gondia local authorities seat as the official Congress-NCP combine nominee in 2010. The seat went to BJP after 2016.