Congress's Sushilkumar Shinde announces retirement, daughter Praniti to contest Solapur seat

Mumbai: In a significant development, veteran Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde said that he has decided to quit electoral politics and proposed the name of his daughter to contest from the Solapur Lok Sabha seat.

From being a bailiff in a court to working as an intelligence officer in Mumbai police to becoming a successful politician, Shinde has seen politics in Maharashtra and India for close to six decades.

Shinde (82), a veteran Dalit leader, had served in various capacities, including being the minister and heading the Power and then the Home portfolios in the Dr Manmohan Singh-led UPA government.

Prior to that he had also served as a governor of undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Shinde’s daughter Praniti Shinde (42), who is a three-term MLA from Solapur City Central, instead would be contesting from the Solapur Lok Sabha seat.

Shinde is a veteran in Solapur politics -- having represented the Lok Sabha seat three times in 1998, 1999 and 2009. In 2014, Shinde became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

On Tuesday, when a question was asked whether he or his daughter would contest the Solapur seat, Shinde said: “I am publicly saying that (Praniti) Tai will contest the Lok Sabha seat…I am almost a retired person.”

However, he would continue to guide the Congress.

The development comes in the run up to the 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls in Maharashtra.

Shinde had lost the Lok Sabha polls from Solapur in 2014 and 2019.