Eknath Shinde Wanted Chhagan Bhujbal To Contest From Shirur Lok Sabha Seat, Claims Amol Kolhe

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde wanted Maharashtra Food & Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Shirur constituency in Pune district, NCP (SP) leader and Shirur MP Amol Kolhe claimed. However, after Bhujbal declined the offer, former MP Shivajirao Adhalrao was given the chance to contest on an NCP ticket, Kolhe added. He was speaking at a gathering in Pimpri-Chinchwad's Bhosari, attended by several Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders.

Reacting to Kolhe's claim, Adhalrao said that the NCP (SP) leader was being "childish" and making such statements out of "ignorance". "Like Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, Amol Kolhe has a habit of making meaningless statements," added Adhalrao.

However, Bhujbal confirmed that Shinde had indeed called him to ask if he would contest from the Shirur Lok Sabha seat, emphasising the significant OBC population in the constituency. "The motive behind this move was if I contest from Shirur, a Shiv Sena candidate would get to contest from Nashik. But there was no question of me leaving Nashik. So, I refused the proposal," Bhujbal added.

Later, Bhujbal decided not to seek the ticket from the Nashik Lok Sabha constituency to resolve the deadlock within the Mahayuti over the seat. However, even though he said he wouldn't contest, Bhujbal asserted that his party has not left its claim over the Nashik seat. His statement came after the meeting of the Samata Parishad members who strongly demanded that he should contest the Nashik Lok Sabha seat. His statement also came a day after party working president Praful Patel revealed that NCP has not left its claim over the Nashik seat and the discussions with BJP and Shiv Sena were in progress.