BJP should contest Parbhani Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra: MLA Lonikar

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: BJP MLA and former minister Babanrao Lonikar on Thursday said the Parbhani Lok Sabha seat should be contested by his party and expressed confidence that it will win it with a huge majority.

Sanjay Jadhav of the Shiv Sena (UBT) is the sitting MP from Parbhani. He won the seat in 2019 and 2014.

"The Parbhani Lok Sabha seat should be contested by the Bharatiya Janata Party. I have put forth this demand before Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and other senior leaders," Lonikar told a Marathi news channel in Jalna.

The BJP legislator's assembly segment Partur in Jalna falls under the Parbhani Lok Sabha constituency.

"Partur, Jintur and Gangakhed assembly segments under Parbhani Lok Sabha seat are held by the BJP. We also have 17 zilla parishad members, 92 panchayat samiti members in the constituency. The voters here support the Hindutva ideology and the NCP candidate got defeated in this constituency twice," Lonikar said.

He expressed confidence that the BJP will win the Parbhani seat with more than two lakh votes.

In 2019, Sanjay Jadhav defeated Rajesh Vitekar of the NCP (then undivided).

Elections to the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra will be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20 and votes will be counted on June 4.