Pimpri: Shiv Sena on Sunday confirmed candidature of its sitting MLA Gautam Chabukswar for the Pimpri assembly seat.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray gave the party's AB form to Chabukswar, ending speculation on the party's choice for the reserved Scheduled Caste constituency.
In 2014 when there was no alliance between Shiv Sena and BJP, BJP had supported its ally RPI (Athavale) candidate Chandrakanta Sonkamble in Pimpri seat. However, Sonkamble had contested the election with oil lamp symbol instead of the BJP's lotus symbol. Chabukswar had then emerged victorious with a narrow margin, defeating Sonkamble.
Incidentally, Chabukswar had left the Congress to join Shiv Sena just before the 2014 assembly polls.
Shiv Sena's confirmation of Chabukswar's nomination has disappointed a large number of local BJP leaders who were aspiring for the party's ticket in this constituency. Some of them had already started poster campaigns for the assembly poll.
Meanwhile, it is still not clear whether the NCP will contest all the three assembly seats in Pimpri Chinchwad or whether one of the seats will be allotted to the Congress. NCP leader Ajit Pawar had last week said that the party will contest Pimpri, Chinchwad and Bhosari seats in the city.
