NASHIK: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde declared on Thursday that the Nashik Lok Sabha constituency rightfully belongs to the Shiv Sena. Shinde, made this claim a day after Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Beed candidate Pankaja Munde proposed that her sister Pritam Munde should be considered as Mahayuti’s Nashik candidate.

During a public address on Wednesday night, Pankaja Munde assured that no injustice would befall her sister and outgoing Beed MP Pritam. “If needed, Pritam tai will contest from the Nashik Lok Sabha seat,” she had stated. Her remark caused unrest within the Sena, as some party members are frustrated with BJP calling the shots over ticket distribution for Mahayuti candidates across the state.

Not only Shinde, Pankaja Munde’s comment has not gone down well with senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and state Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who recently withdrew from the Nashik poll race in the larger interest of the alliance. Bhujbal criticized Pankaja’s statement as “childish,” asserting that Mahayuti has many capable politicians in Nashik and does not need an outsider to contest.

The exclusion of Bhujbal as the Mahayuti candidate for Nashik has already upset the OBC community, potentially affecting Maharashtra's Lok Sabha polls and the All-India Mahatma Phule Samata Parishad is advocating for Bhujbal’s candidacy.

Sitting MP Hemant Godse of the undivided Shiv Sena has twice won the Nashik seat in 2014 and 2019 and is a strong contender for the third time and Sena party workers have already begun working for him in various wards of the constituency. Meanwhile, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena may be fielding MLA Rajabhau Waje from Sinnar from the Nashik seat as a Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi candidate.