Lok Sabha elections 2024: Amravati seat fuels crisis in BJP-led Maha Yuti

In the 2019 polls, Navneet Rana, an Independent with the backing of Sharad Pawar-led NCP defeated Anandrao Adsul of the undivided Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.

Mumbai: The BJP’s decision to field actor-turned-politician Navneet Kaur Rana from the Amravati SC-reserved seat of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra has fuelled yet another crisis over seat-sharing involving the Maha Yuti.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Navneet Rana, an Independent with the backing of Sharad Pawar-led NCP defeated Anandrao Adsul of the undivided Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.

Before the 2019 polls, Adsul had represented Amravati two times and Buldhana thrice.

After the June 2022 split, Adsul, who was under the scanner of central agencies, joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

Adsul was keen for the seat either for himself or for his son Abhijit Adsul, a former MLA from Daryapur.

The Adsuls are annoyed that the BJP had taken the seat from the Shiv Sena.

On the other hand, Prahar Janshakti Party founder Bachchu Kadu, whose party has two MLAs too, was keen for his party members to contest. Besides, he also has political rivalry with Navneet Rana and her husband Ravi Rana, the founder of Yuva Swabhiman Party (YSP), who is a three-time MLA from Bandera for three terms - 2009, 2014 and 2019. Navneet Rana also faces stiff opposition from a section of local BJP leaders and workers.

Navneet Rana faces another challenge - June 2021, the sitting MP’s caste status had come under the scanner, with the Bombay High Court cancelling her SC certificate. The Supreme Court had later stayed the high court's order and has now completed the hearing and set to deliver the verdict.