The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced on Thursday that Union Minister Narayan Rane will be contesting the Lok Sabha polls from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency in Maharashtra. Rane will be up against the incumbent MP Vinayak Raut, who is a leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT) party.
Narayan Rane had previously expressed his intention to contest from the Sindhudurg-Ratnagiri constituency if the BJP nominated him for the seat. Rane currently serves as the Minister of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the BJP-led Central government.
“Sindhudur-Ratnagiri Loksabha Constituency is of BJP and BJP will only contest on it. If the party gives me a ticket then I am ready to contest,” Rane affirmed.
Previously, there had been contention over the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency, with both the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) camp and Narayan Rane vying for the seat. The BJP and the Shiv Sena, led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, are allies in the ‘Mahayuti’ alliance in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha elections.
The dispute over the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency has been ongoing for several months. In the 2019 general elections, Vinayak Raut of the Shiv Sena emerged victorious with approximately 50.8% of the votes, while Narayan Rane, contesting under his own party Maharashtra Swabhimaan Paksh, secured around 31% of the votes.
Elections for the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra will be conducted in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, and May 20.
The general elections for the 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases starting April 19, with the counting of votes scheduled for June 4.