Lok Sabha Elections: Mahayuti Ticket Issues? Sena Leader Angry as BJP Nominates Amravati’s Sitting MP

The BJP has fielded existing MP Navnit Kaur Rana from her Amravati, Maharashtra, district in an apparent attempt to seize Lok Sabha seats from its partner Shiv Sena. Citing ground surveys, a number of the party’s officials, headed by Eknath Shinde, are not pleased that its partner for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections is removing tickets.

In the 2019 general elections, Rana ran and won from Amravati as an independent, a seat that the BJP had claimed. However, Anandrao Adsul, a former MP, is dissatisfied with this. In 2014, the leader of Shiv Sena had beaten Rana from this seat.

“There is an ongoing case against Navnit Rana, thus, she will lose. How will she run for office when so many people are against her? Adding that she has been granted a ticket by the BJP and not the Mahayuti party in its entirety, he questioned.

“She did not get a ticket from Mahayuti; the BJP is in Mahayuti, but it has announced several tickets on its own. The whole BJP cadre is opposed to her on the ground, he claimed.

Adsul went on to say that “someone” had turned Rana’s seat into a “prestige issue,” rather than Mahayuti making the choice to provide Rana a ticket. Sena sources allege that party MPs and MLAs want their high command to approach the BJP and request that they refrain from staking seats on poll results. Additionally, they have asked that the leadership not just rely on these polls but also take into account the actual situation as reported by local leaders.

In Sena territory, Amravati was seen as a bastion from 1999 to 2014. The leader of the Shiv Sena, Anant Gundhe, presided over it from 1999 to 2004. From 2009 to 2019, Adsul did the same. He triumphed against Rana in 2014, when the latter was running on an NCP ticket. He had defeated her by a margin of over one lakh votes in the previous election, but in 2019, she defeated him by 36,501 votes.

Rana’s official BJP induction took place last week, when the party announced her as an Amravati candidate. At the Nagpur home of state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, a modest induction ceremony was held.

Rana arrived in Mumbai on Thursday in order to meet with Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister, at his home. The National Democratic Coalition (NDA) has urged all of its coalition partners to work with the Mahayuti party’s official candidates. In addition, I’ll ask for the support of every top NDA leader in my district. I shall keep working for the people of Amravati to realize PM (Narendra) Modi ji’s development ambition,” she said to News18.