The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP,) on the 4th of April, replaces its Member of Parliament (MP) candidate representing the Jalgaon constituency, Maharashtra, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Unmesh Patil, a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the BJP, replaced Smita Wagh, a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) of the BJP, in the Jalgaon Lok Sabha seat.
Smita Wagh withdrew her nomination papers as a MP candidate from Jalgaon. She filed her nomination papers on the 28th of March.
It is speculated, the decision of the BJP was made due to the realisation that Mr. Patil has high chances of winning against the National Communist Party (NCP,) which is a strong competitor of the BJP.
However, the BJP did not reveal anything about the sudden change of candidate.
After the decision, Mr. Patil, accompanied by Smita, on the 4th of April, filed his nomination papers to the Returning Officer (RO) of Jalgaon, West Maharashtra.
Mr. Patil addressed the media and said, “I filed my nomination today (the 4th of April) following the Party’s directive.”
Mr. Patil also spoke about Ms. Smita and said, “She (Wagh) too is a dedicated party worker. There is no question of her having ill feelings over being asked to withdraw.”
Maharashtra will contest a total of 48 seats in four phases in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, scheduled on the 11th, 18th, 23rd and the 29th of April 2019.
The major parties contesting the Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections are the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP,) the BJP and the Indian National Congress (INC.)
The results of the Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections will be declared on the 23rd of May 2019.
Stay tuned for further updates about the Lok Sabha elections.
