Former Minister Sadabhau Khot enters Maharashtra Council poll ring as BJP-backed candidate
The Hindu
With Khot’s entry, there are now 12 contestants in the fray for the Maharashtra Council elections which is scheduled to be held on June 20
Former Maharashtra minister and BJP ally Sadabhau Khot on Thursday filed his nomination for the upcoming polls to 10 seats of the State Legislative Council as a BJP-backed independent candidate.
The BJP, which has fielded five candidates of its own so far, extended its support to Mr. Khot.
With Mr. Khot's entry, there are now 12 candidates in the arena for the elections to the Upper House of the State Legislature to be held on June 20.
BJP's State president Chandrakant Patil accompanied Mr. Khot when the latter filed his nomination in Mumbai.
Mr. Khot was earlier a member of the Legislative Council. He is the founder of Rayat Kranti Sanghatana, which had supported the erstwhile BJP-led government in the State. He was Minister of State for Agriculture in the Devendra Fadnavis-led dispensation that was in power between 2014 and 2019.
Mr. Patil said, "(Mr.) Khot has filed his nomination as an independent candidate and our party has decided to extend support to him. He is a popular farmer leader in the State."
However, when asked, Mr. Patil refused to comment on the protest by the supporters of Pankaja Munde in Aurangabad earlier in the day against the party's decision not to nominate her for the Council polls. They raised slogans in support of Ms. Munde while heading towards the BJP office located in Osmanpura area of Aurangabad.