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Maharashtra elections: Vilasrao Deshmukh’s youngest son seeks ticket from Latur Rural

Dhiraj’s elder brother Amit is the sitting MLA from the neighbouring Latur (City) seat. He is set to be renominated this time as well.

DHIRAJ DESHMUKH (right) is the youngest son of former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. (File)

DHIRAJ DESHMUKH, the youngest son of former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, has reportedly sought the ticket from the Latur (Rural) Assembly constituency, sources in the state Congress said. Dhiraj’s elder brother Amit is the sitting MLA from the neighbouring Latur (City) seat. He is set to be renominated this time as well.

But there is opposition to Dhiraj’s candidature. While the state Congress parliamentary board, which is at present screening aspirants for the upcoming polls, discussed his candidature, sources said that many among those present were not entirely in favour of the nomination. “Giving two tickets in the same family won’t send the right message,” said a former state party minister. Interestingly, Trimbakrao Bhise, the sitting MLA from Latur (Rural) and a stauch Vilasrao loyalist, also wants to run for a second term.

While Dhiraj has been active in the organisational set up for the last few years and has always been keen to follow in his father’s footsteps, this is the first time when he has sought a ticket.

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Sources, meanwhile, said that former CM Sushil Kumar Shinde’s daughter Praniti Shinde, who is the sitting MLA from Solapur City Central, has also evinced interest in being nominated from the neighbouring Mohol seat — currently represented by jailed NCP MLA Ramesh Kadam.
Party insiders said that the Congress would first have to examine if the NCP was willing to swap this seat. In the Lok Sabha polls, Sushil Kumar had suffered a second consecutive loss at the hands of the BJP in Solapur.

Two other former Congress ministers — Baba Siddique and Kripashankar Singh — have also reportedly sought tickets for their sons. While Siddique wants the Congress to nominate son, Zeeshan, from Mumbai’s Bandra (East) seat, Singh has offered to relinquish his own claim on contesting from the city’s Kalina seat to accommodate his son, Narendra Mohan Singh. But some senior leaders are of the opinion that the two former ministers should themselves enter the fray.

Festive offer

Meanwhile, the Congress parliamentary board on Wednesday decided to defer deliberations on the aspirants for the 36 Assembly seats in Mumbai. It has been decided that a smaller committee of city-based leaders will be tasked with the job of shortlisting probables for Mumbai seats.

First uploaded on: 15-08-2019 at 02:15 IST
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