Pune, Jun 4: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate Vikram Kakade is set to be elected unopposed to the Maharashtra legislative council from Pune after five candidates, including NCP (SP) nominee Shrikant Patil, withdrew their nominations on Thursday, which was the last day for opting out of the fray, officials said.
According to the district administration, Patil as well as independent candidates Sunil Tingre, Tushar Kamthe, Pradip Kand and Ranjeet Jare withdrew their nomination papers.
"I thank everyone for making this election unopposed. Though the election is unopposed, I will still reach out to all voters and understand their views and expectations from me," Kakade said.
Speaking to PTI, Patil said Deputy Chief Minister and NCP head Sunetra Pawar had requested NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar to withdraw the party's candidature.
"However, Pawar saheb told me he would stand by any decision of mine. Considering my proximity to Ajit Dada, I decided to withdraw my nomination," Patil claimed.
Considered close to Jay and Parth Pawar, Kakade was fielded by the NCP for the Pune MLC seat.
Kakade is the son of former Rajya Sabha member and businessman Sanjay Kakade.
Elections to 16 legislative council seats from local self-government bodies and a bypoll from the Nagpur self-government body are scheduled for June 18, with vote counting on June 22. Members of local self-government bodies comprise the electoral college for these polls.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and auto-generated from an agency feed.)
