Lok Sabha elections 2024: Shiv Sena fields Minister Sandeepan Bhumre from Aurangabad LS seat

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The Shiv Sena on Saturday announced the candidature of State Minister Sandeepan Bhumre from the Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra.

Bhumre, who helms the Employment Guarantee Scheme and Horticulture ministries, will take on Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Chandrakant Khaire and AIMIM's Imitiaz Jaleel from the Aurangabad seat (now Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar).

With Bhumre's nomination, the Shiv Sena has so far declared candidates for 11 seats, including Mumbai South Central and Kalyan.

The Shiv Sena is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, comprising the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Polling in the Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat will be held on May 13 in the fourth phase of the general elections.

Aurangabad had been won by the undivided Shiv Sena six times since 1989, but five years ago, the party suffered a setback when its veteran leader Khaire faced an unexpected defeat at the hands of Jaleel, who won by a narrow margin of less than 4,500 votes.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Saturday that the people of the country are eager to make Modi ji the Prime Minister again.

Taking a dig at the Congress party, Shinde said that while PM Modi is working for the betterment of the country, Congress, on the other hand, is busy solving its internal issues.

PM Modi should again get elected Prime Minister for the third time for the betterment and development of this nation, Shinde said while addressing the Vijay Sankalp Sabha here today.

"Vote for one candidate means vote for Modi ji. The people of the country are eager to make Modi ji the Prime Minister. PM Modi's leadership is shining in the nation as the sun shines upon this earth. This is a matter of great pride for us. Modi ji has tried to bring not only Ram Temple but Ram Rajya in this country. INDIA bloc is asking the country that we have Rahul, Sonia, Stalin, Kejriwal, what do you have? On this the people of the country reply that we have "Modi guarantee". The synonym of trust is 'Modi Guarantee'," he said.

"Congress gave the slogan of eradicating poverty but the poor suffered more. PM Modi brought 25 crore people out of poverty and announced to give free ration to 80 crore people for five years. PM Modi should become the Prime Minister for the development of this nation. This election is for the development of the nation. PM Modi has worked to bring the country's economy from 11th to 5th. His resolve is to make it the third-largest economy in the world. This is called the Modi Guarantee. Congress people are fighting among themselves. We do not need to make any efforts to defeat them," CM Shinde said.

The polls for the five parliamentary seats in Maharashtra were held in the first phase of polling on Friday.

The state, with its 48 Lok Sabha seats, is the second-largest contributor to the lower house of Parliament after Uttar Pradesh.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 out of 23 seats.