Several leaders in Mahavikas Aghadi and Mahayuti rebelled and filed nominations against the official candidates of the front and the alliance in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district. Senior leaders from both wings had initiated negotiations with the rebels over the past three days to convince them to withdraw their candidatures from the assembly polls.

The assembly polls in 2024 will be held on November 20 across the state. Disappointed leaders had filed their candidatures against the official candidates of Aghadi and Yuti. Senior leaders from both sides had talked with the rebel candidates on the phone on Sunday and also warned them of potential action for anti-party activities if they didn’t withdraw their nominations. The situation is almost the same in all nine assembly constituencies in the district.

No action on last day

Not a single candidate from the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar West constituency had withdrawn their candidature by October 31. There were holidays on November 1, 2, and 3 due to the Diwali festival, resulting in the office of the election returning officer being closed. The office opened on Monday, which was the last day for withdrawal, increasing public curiosity about the withdrawals. However, the office maintained a deserted look until the afternoon. It was expected that candidates might come to withdraw by late afternoon, with the deadline for withdrawal set at 5 PM.

The nomination forms of the candidates were scrutinized on October 30, and it was anticipated that candidates would come for withdrawal on October 31 due to the upcoming holidays. In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar West constituency, 44 applications from 28 candidates were declared valid. Senior leaders from all political parties had left no stone unturned to convince the rebels and other independent candidates to withdraw in order to avoid a division of votes, but no candidate had withdrawn by October 31, according to official sources. It will now be interesting to see how many candidates withdraw by late evening.