With sitting MP Shirniwas Patil of NCP (SP) conveying his inability to contest from Satara seat citing health reasons, party chief Sharad Pawar said there are four names that the party is considering four names for the candidature and the final announcement will be made son. “Sitting MP Shirniwas Patil has declared that he will not be able to contest the lok sabha election citing health issues and we understand the concern. The NCP (SP) will contest the seat and has received recommendation of four leaders for party ticket and it will be finalized in the party meeting,” Pawar said after meeting with local leaders in Satara. Among those likely to be considered for the candidature are Shashikant Shinde, Balasaheb Patil, Sunil Mane and Satyajit Patankar. The NCP under leadership of Sharad Pawar had won the previous three Lok Sabha elections in Satara. In the 2019 bypoll necessitated after the sitting MP Udayanraje Bhosale quit NCP and joined BJP, NCP had won the seat after fielding Shirniwas Patil. “The Satara district has always believed in principles and ideologies of former chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan. It is a very important district for our party. The citizens of Satara have always showered love on NCP after Yashwantrao Chavan. We take special care in deciding candidate for Satara constituency and will do so in next two days,” he said. From the NDA, the seat was to be contested by Ajit Pawar led NCP but BJP Rajya Sabha MP Udayanraje Bhosale met senior BJP leaders in Delhi and insisted that he be fielded from the seat as BJP candidate. He claimed to have received assurance from the party leadership to contest the seat as the Ajit Pawar-led NCP will be given another seat as a replacement to Satara constituency. However, there is no official announcement on it yet.
