Shinde Sena’s Sandipanrao Bhumre gets Aurangabad ticket

Shiv Sena announces Sandipanrao Bhumre's candidature for Aurangabad in general elections, BJP's Bhagwat Karad loses out. Khaire and Jaleel also in the race.

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Saturday announced the candidature of Sandipanrao Bhumre, Maharashtra’s employment guarantee scheme minister, for the Aurangabad constituency in the general elections. Sena spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat said chief minister Eknath Shinde is likely to be present when Bhumre files his nomination on April 25.

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was also keen on the seat. It planned to field Bhagwat Karad, union minister of state for finance and the former mayor of Aurangabad. Eventually, the Shinde Sena got its way.

Bhumre has been a legislator since 1995 and was made a cabinet minister in 2019 in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government. He, however, chose to go to the Shinde camp after the Shiv Sena split in 2022.

Aurangabad was a Shiv Sena bastion for two decades from 1999 before Chandrakant Khaire lost to the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s Imtiyaz Jaleel in 2019. Khaire will be contesting this time too on a Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket and has already begun campaigning. The 72-year-old has always said he was the one who made Bhumre a minister. AIMIM’s Jaleel is also vying for re-election, while the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi has fielded Afsar Khan.