Sindhudurg: As the counting of ballots for the Kankavli seat in Sindhuburg district concluded, the Bharatiya Janata Party's Nitesh Narayan Rane was declared the winner with a margin of 57601 votes. He received 107174 votes, Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Sandesh Bhaskar Parkar got 49573 votes and finished second, and independent candidate Ganesh Arvind Mane finished third with 1138 votes.
The firebrand leader Nitish, is known for his aggressive stand on Hindutva. He is the son of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Narayan Rane, who switched from Shiv Sena to Congress to BJP.
The battle for Kankavli was between the BJP and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). The Shiv Sena (UBT) has fielded Sandesh Parkar, who is a local worker, against Nitesh.
The Rane family has a considerable hold over the Konkan region and hence Nitesh sailed through. Both Nitesh and his father are popular among the voters.
However, the Konkan has been traditionally a stronghold of the undivided Shiv Sena. Hence it seems that the Konkani voter shifted to Shiv Sena (UBT). Nitesh despite the records has the support of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
Parkar had the support of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and the Congress and if he wins it will be one of the biggest upsets of the 2024 Maharashtra polls.
