Arun Jagtap front runner for NCP in Ahmednagar

NASHIK

: Senior NCP leader and member of legislative council (

MLC

)

Arun Jagtap

is the front runner for being the party’s nominee from

Ahmednagar

constituency for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The seat belongs to NCP under the seat-sharing agreement with its allies in the state. The NCP leadership is currently talking with senior party leaders from Ahmednagar in Mumbai. The meeting, which started on Wednesday evening, could stretch till late in the night.

“Jagtap is a seasoned leader and resourceful to take on

Sujay Vikhe Patil

who would be BJP’s candidate. Jagtap’s network is extremely strong and a section of the leaders feels that the party should field a heavyweight to take on Sujay,” an NCP leader said.

The state leadership is also toying with the idea of fielding Anuradha Nagawade, Congress zilla parishad member from Srigonda, after inducting her into the party or to bring in a fresh face in the form of Prashant Gadakh — son of the well-known former Congress MLA Yashwantrao Gadakh who is extremely close to NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

Meanwhile, Pawar, while addressing to the NCP workers in Ahmednagar via video conferencing, asked the latter to gear up for the polls.

Sujay’s father and senior Congress leader Radhakrishna had failed to convince the NCP leadership to leave the Ahmednagar seat for Congress so that Sujay could contest the elections from here. However, Pawar turned down the request following which Sujay joined BJP.

Although Pawar did not take any names during his address, he said that though the opponents in the polls are strong in the local zilla parishad and cooperatives, NCP too has its strong presence in the constituency.

“We too have a strong influence in Ahmednagar as our results in the past assembly elections show,” he said calling upon the NCP cadres to go all out to ensure the victory for the NCP nominee.

He added that the ensuing polls in Ahmednagar would be as interesting as the parliamentary elections in 1991 where Sujay’s late grandfather and former union minister Balasaheb Vikhe Patil had contested the polls from Ahmednagar against Congress nominee and Pawar’s close-aide Yashwantrao Gadakh.


Explore the yearly horoscope 2025 for Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces zodiac signs. Spread love this holiday season with these New Year wishes, messages and quotes.