Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former MP from the Shirdi Lok Sabha constituency has been renominated by his party as its candidate for the upcoming polls to represent the same constituency. Shirdi is a constituency reserved for candidates from Scheduled Castes.
Bhausaheb Wakchaure contested the Lok Sabha election from Shirdi in 2009 on the ticket of Shiv Sena and was elected as the representative of the constituency, securing 3,59,921 votes.
He then left Shiv Sena and joined Congress. He contested from Shirdi again in 2014, this time on a Congress ticket, but was defeated by Shiv Sena candidate Sadashiv Lokhande, who is also the sitting MP from Shirdi. Wakchaure fought the 2019 election from Shirdi as an independent candidate but in August 2023, following a split in Shiv Sena, he decided to join the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction of the party.
The Shirdi Lok Sabha constituency comprises six assembly constituencies, namely Akole, represented by INC's Kiran Lahamate; Sangamner, held by INC's Balasaheb Thorat; Shirdi with BJP's Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil; Kopargaon represented by INC's Ashutosh Kale; Shrirampur held by INC's Lahu Kanade; and Nevasa with Shiv Sena's Shankarrao Gadakh.
Shirdi Lok Sabha constituency was formed only in 2019 and has seen a stronghold of Shiv Sena since then. All three general elections have seen a Shiv Sena MP from here, with Bhausaheb Wakchaure elected in 2009 and Sadashiv Lokhande in 2014 and 2019.
Mahayuti has not yet declared its candidate for Shirdi, but Shiv Sena MP and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's son Shrikant Shinde recently made it clear that this seat will not be given up by Shiv Sena, as it is a party stronghold. However, RPI (Athawale) and BJP are both interested in contesting from Shirdi, with Ramdas Athawale having previously unsuccessfully contested from this seat in 2019. Shirdi is the home ground of state cabinet minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, making BJP equally eager to contest.
Overall, if Shiv Sena gets another chance to field its candidate from Shirdi, it will be another interesting race of votes between the two factions of a party having a strong base in the constituency.
