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In a big blow to Maharashtra's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit, Dhairyasheel Mohite Patil resigned from the party. He represented the Madha Lok Sabha constituency.
According to reports, upset over not getting the ticket in the upcoming elections, he sent his resignation to BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule. The BJP chose sitting MP Ranjit Singh Naik Nimbalkar over him for the Madha seat. On Thursday, Patil met Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) party chief Sharad Pawar in Pune. The Madha constituency was formed in 2009 after delimitation and Sharad Pawar was the first Lok Sabha member elected from Madha in 2009. Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second-largest after Uttar Pradesh. The Lok Sabha polls will be held in the state in five phases from April 19 to May 20. In the first phase on April 19, Ramtek, Nagpur, Bhandara-Gondiya, Gadchiroli-Chimur, and Chandrapur will go to polls. Buldhana, Akola, Amravati, Wardha, Yavatmal-Washim, Hingoli, Nanded, and Parbhani will vote in the second phase on April 26. Raigad, Baramati, Osmanabad, Latur, Solapur, Madha, Sangli, Satara, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, and Kolhapur will vote in the third phase on May 7. Polling will be held across Nandurbhar, Jalgaon, Raver, Jalna, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maval, Pune, Shirur, Ahmednagar, Beed, and Shirdi in the fourth phase on May 13. Dhule, Dindori, Nashik, Palghar, Kalyan, Thane, Mumbai North, Mumbai North-West, Mumbai North-East, Mumbai North-Central, Mumbai South and Mumbai South-Central will vote in the final phase on May 20. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 seats it contested in alliance with the undivided Shiv Sena. Votes will be counted on June 4. (ANI)
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