Maharashtra elections: NCP(SP) names Anil Deshmukh’s son as candidate from Katol

The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) on Monday released its fourth list of seven candidates for the Maharashtra assembly elections. The party has fielded former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh’s son Salil Deshmukh from Katol assembly constituency in Nagpur. The seat has been represented by Anil Deshmukh since 1995. Interestingly, the party had named the veteran leader as its candidate from Katol in its first list of 45 candidates. However, the NCP(SP) changed the candidate by fielding his son Salil Deshmukh from the constituency. The other names are Prabhakar Gharge from Man, Vaibhav Patil from Khanapur, Aruna Pisal from Wai, Sharad Mend from Pusad, Sandeep Bedse from Sindkheda and Ramesh Thorat from Daund constituency.Deshmukh, who served as the state home minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government, was arrested in 2021 over a corruption case filed against him by the CBI.
Former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh in a letter to then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on March 20, 2021 had accused Deshmukh of instructing police officers including Antilia case accused Sachin Vaze to collect ₹100 crore from dance bars across Mumbai. Deshmukh was arrested by ED in November in 2021 on money laundering charges. In October 2022, he was granted bail by the Bombay high court. The high court granted bail to Deshmukh two months later in a case registered by the CBI. The NCP(SP) is a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition, which also comprises Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT). It is pitted against ruling Mahayuti alliance, comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar’s NCP.The elections to 288-member Maharashtra assembly will be held on November 20. The counting of votes will take place on November 23.(Wit agency inputs)