Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s former personal secretary, Balaji Khatgaonkar, has announced his intention to contest the election from the Mukhed assembly constituency independently.
Mahayuti has published the first list of candidates recently, and following that, a rebellion started in the alliance. The BJP has declared its candidate for the Mukhed constituency. Khatgaonkar, who was eager to contest the election from Mukhed, was very upset. His announcement to run independently poses a severe threat to the BJP candidate in the Mukhed constituency.
BJP candidate Tushar Rathod has won from the Mukhed constituency for the past two terms, and Mahayuti has once again given him the chance. Now, Khatgaonkar's announcement has increased the challenges for Rathod.
Khatgaonkar worked as an administrative officer for 37 years and also served as the personal assistant to CM Shinde. He had been planning to contest the election from the Shinde group in Mukhed. Over the past three months, he visited several places in the constituency and attended numerous functions and political programs, maintaining good relations with the voters. He was confident that the Shinde group would receive the opportunity from Mukhed, but after the list was declared, Rathod was given the chance for the third time. Consequently, he declared his intention to contest independently.
