Nagpur: Rebellion within BJP-led Mahayuti and competing candidates in Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have turned the Amravati divisional Teachers’ Constituency election into a multi-cornered contest, with 26 candidates remaining after Friday’s withdrawal deadline.Mahayuti’s official nominee, incumbent Shiv Sena MLA Kiran Sarnaik, faces former MLA Shrikant Deshpande, BJP rebels Chandrashekhar Bhoyar and Sangeeta Shinde, as well as BJP candidate Sumit Pawar. The contest has put Sarnaik under pressure from candidates within and outside the ruling alliance.The constituency was allotted to Shiv Sena under Mahayuti’s seat-sharing arrangement. However, Bhoyar and Shinde entered the contest independently after failing to secure the BJP ticket.According to the district administration, four candidates withdrew before the 3 pm deadline. They were Preeti Revane of MLA Ravi Rana’s Yuva Swabhiman Party, Mahant Sunil Rathod of Pohradevi, Santosh Aage of MLC Bachchu Kadu’s Prahar Shikshak Sanghatana, and independent candidate Sajid Khan Khalil. The nomination of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) candidate Gazi Mohammad Jaherosh had earlier been declared invalid.Rana said Revane withdrew following requests from Mahayuti leaders, including chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde and guardian minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule. Rathod and Aage are also understood to have withdrawn after communicating with Shinde.MVA, meanwhile, is entering the contest with separate candidates from its constituent parties. Congress nominee Aditi Pohare and Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Dattatray Lahane are both in the fray, raising the possibility of a division in opposition votes.
