Maharashtra: Congress leaves Raigad seat for NCP, gets Hingoli

MUMBAI: Congress and its ally NCP in Maharashtra have decided to swap the Raigad and Hingoli Lok Sabha seats ahead of the upcoming elections.

While Congress would be giving up Raigad, which it has failed to wrest away from Shiv Sena in the last three elections, NCP would be relinquishing Hingoli.

Youth Congress president Rajiv Satav is expected to stand from Hingoli while state Water Resources Minister Sunil Tatkare is likely to contest from Raigad.

NCP has also decided to leave the Hatkanangale seat for Congress, where current MP Raju Shetti of Swabhimani Shetkari Sangthana has now allied with the Shiv Sena and BJP.

Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said that these decisions were taken at a meeting between Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and NCP president Sharad Pawar in Delhi today.

With this, Congress will be fielding candidates in 27 constituencies in Maharashtra while NCP will be contesting 21 seats.