Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Two days after announcing the withdrawal of support for NCP candidate Satish Chavan in Aurangabad Graduates’ Constituency poll, Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat on Saturday took a U-turn, stating that his party will, in fact, back the NCP candidate.However, no sooner had Shirsat changed his mind than Shiv Sena’s Sillod MLA and former cabinet minister, Abdul Sattar, took a contradictory stance by announcing his support for NCP (SP) candidate Pratapsinh Patil.Shirsat had initially withdrawn support for Chavan due to escalating tensions in Amravati Division Teachers’ Constituency. There, NCP MLC Sanjay Khodke and his wife, Amravati NCP MLA Sulbha Khodke, had allegedly openly extended their support to Vidarbha Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh candidate Dilip Kadu against official Shiv Sena nominee, Kiran Sarnaik.Speaking at a joint news conference with Chavan on Saturday, Shirsat said the NCP leadership from Amravati had since assured top Mahayuti leaders that they would not support any candidate other than Sarnaik. “Following their assurance, we have decided to vote for NCP candidate again in the Aurangabad Graduates’ Constituency poll,” Shirsat said.Meanwhile, defying the party’s official position, Sattar went ahead and organised a meeting of party workers in Sillod to rally support for the rival NCP (SP) candidate. Addressing the gathering, he appealed to voters to cast their valuable first-preference votes for Pratapsinh Patil.The NCP camp had not issued an official response to the Shiv Sena MLA’s rebellious stance as of Saturday evening.The upcoming Oct 23 triangular contest for the MLC seat features candidates from both factions of NCP alongside Dilip Ghuge of Shiv Sena (UBT). While internal rebellion by Sattar is rocking the Mahayuti alliance, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is witnessing its own internal friction, with allies NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) fighting against one another.
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