Setback to BJP: Rajan Teli joins Shiv Sena (UBT) ahead of Maharashtra elections 2024, attacks Narayan Rane and family

Rajan Teli, a BJP leader from Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra, has announced his resignation from the party’s primary membership and is preparing to join the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).

Teli had been serving as the BJP’s in-charge for the Sawantwadi assembly constituency. He claimed that he had worked hard for the party for the last 10 years, news agency PTI reported. 

Teli expressed dissatisfaction with his position within the BJP, claiming he faced difficulties after Narayan Rane, the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg MP and former Union minister, along with his family, joined the party. 

He criticized the practice of concentrating political power within a single family. Reports suggest that Nilesh Rane, Narayan Rane’s son, might switch to the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to contest the upcoming assembly elections on November 20.

Meanwhile, Nitesh Rane, the MLA from Kankavali, is likely to be re-nominated from his constituency.

Teli voiced opposition to the idea of awarding both Lok Sabha and assembly seats to the Rane family, hinting at internal tensions over ticket distribution. 

The political dynamics in the Konkan region, which includes 75 of Maharashtra’s 288 assembly seats (with 36 located in Mumbai), are heating up. In the 2019 elections, the undivided Shiv Sena had enjoyed a stronghold in this coastal belt.

However, the party's split has created a "Sena vs. Sena" contest, with Eknath Shinde’s faction aligning with the BJP to form the Mahayuti alliance.  Although the Mahayuti may have gained some strategic ground, pressing local issues like unemployment and displacement could influence voters' choices, making the upcoming elections unpredictable.

Teli, who was previously associated with the undivided Shiv Sena, is expected to add to the shifting dynamics by joining Uddhav Thackeray’s camp.

Both the Mahayuti and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are in a fierce battle to make it to the Varsha bungalow, the official residence of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

Voting for 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra will take place on November 20 in a single phase and the results will be announced on November 23.