The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday released its first list of 99 candidates for the Maharashtra Assembly polls which are scheduled to be held in a single phase on November 20. In Pune, the saffron party announced nominees for the three seats of Shivajinagar, Parvati and Kothrud, giving candidature to its incumbent MLAs Siddharth Shirole, Madhuri Misal and Chandrakant Patil respectively. Meanwhile, Patil's nomination hasn't gone down well with party leader Ujwal Keskar who has vowed to contest as an independent.

Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Keskar said, "Chandrakant Patil is an outsider and has little knowledge about the problems of Kothrud. The party workers had urged senior leaders to give a local face as the candidate in this seat. However, the party has again fielded Patil. In 2019 when Patil was the party's state chief, he wanted a safe seat to contest the Assembly polls, so he chose Kothrud and denied a ticket to sitting MLA Medha Kulkarni. This time he has negated her threat as she has been given a Rajya Sabha seat. Also, Murlidhar Mohol who could have been in contention for this seat has become the Lok Sabha MP and has been made the Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Cooperation."

Keskar, a former leader of the opposition in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), further said that he is a "senior politician" and that the "BJP should have considered his name". Before Sunday's announcement, he had also written a letter to party office-bearers and expressed his desire to give him candidature from either Shivajinagar or Kothrud Assembly seats.

In 2009 too, Keskar rebelled and unsuccessfully contested the Assembly election as an independent against the BJP-Sena's Chandrakant Mokate from the Kothrud seat. Following this, he was suspended from the party. Later in 2012, he floated an independent forum called Pune Janhit Aghadi (PJA) and fielded candidates in civic polls. In 2014, he came back into the BJP fold.

Meanwhile, Amol Balwadkar was another BJP leader who was vying for the party ticket from Kothrud. He had even challenged the party leadership, stating that he would consider other options if he was not given the ticket. Moreover, Balwadkar had also accused Patil of isolating him within the party after he expressed his desire to contest the polls. There were also speculations that Balwadkar was in touch with senior NCP (SP) leaders and that he might join Sharad Pawar's party, secure a ticket and contest the election against Patil.