 "Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Narayan Rane addressing a press conference, at BJP office, in Mumbai on Friday.")
The BJP has named Union Minister Narayan Rane as its candidate in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, announcing its 13th list of nominees on Thursday.
While Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena's Kiran Samant and Ravindra Samant expressed interest in contesting from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat, the BJP has chosen to nominate Rane.
Rane is the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises of India. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a BJP member and served as an MP until April 3, 2024. He was earlier part of the Congress party, which he quit in 2017 and launched the Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha.
Rane and his sons -- Nilesh Rane, former MP for Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, and Nitesh Rane, MLA from Kankavli, -- joined the BJP in October 2019 after dissolving his party.
Ahead of the announcement, the Union minister had already asserted his confidence in securing the seat with a significant margin of over 200,000 votes.
As part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has nominated incumbent MP Vinayak Raut as its candidate for the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat.
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Significance of Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency in LS polls
The Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency, encompassing six state Assembly seats, holds strategic significance in dominating the Konkan region. The seat was created through a de-limitation exercise by merging the former Ratnagiri and Rajapur Lok Sabha seats in 2008. It is the largest Lok Sabha seat in the Konkan region.
Historically, the electoral landscape of Konkan was dominated by the Congress and socialist parties like the Praja Samajwadi and the Peasants and Workers Party. However, in recent years, the Shiv Sena has emerged a strong contender, with Vinayak Raut securing the seat in both the 2014 and 2019 elections.
The last date for filing nominations is on April 19. The 11 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra will go to polls in Phase 3 on May 7. The counting of votes will be done on June 4.
