"One-sided victory for BJP on Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat in LS polls": Narayan Rane

By Shailesh Yadav
Ratnagiri (Maharashtra) [India], May 1 : Union Minister and BJP candidate from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency Narayan Rane on Wednesday exuded confidence in a sweeping victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said there will be a "one-sided victory" for the BJP in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
The Union Minister also expressed confidence that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will win 38-40 seats in Maharashtra.
Speaking to ANI in Ratnnagiri, Rane said, "I am already an MP from Rajya Sabha and a Union Minister, I am not going anywhere for the next 10 years. I am going to win elections one-sided, with a margin of around 3 lakh votes. In Maharashtra, we are going to get 38-40 seats. There are issues like rain, flood, and unemployment but these will be solved within 1 year."
Meanwhile, Vinayak Raut, the incumbent Member of Parliament from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat and candidate of Uddhav Thakre's Shivesena also expressed his certainty in securing a hat-trick of victories in the upcoming elections.
Raut, a two-time MP from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, emphasized that those who departed from Shiv Sena were opportunists seeking power while asserting that the public's support remains firmly with his party.
When questioned about his opponent Narayan Raut, he refrained from engaging in personal attacks, focusing instead on his dedication to serving the constituents of Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg.
Union Minister Narayan Rane is set to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency in Maharashtra.
Rane will face the Sena (UBT) leader and incumbent MP Vinayak Raut from this seat.
Rane is currently the Minister of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the BJP-led Central government.
The BJP and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena are in the 'Mahayuti' alliance in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha elections.
The tiff over the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency had been brewing for the past several months.
In the 2019 general elections, Vinayak Raut from Shiv Sena emerged victorious gathering around 50.8 per cent. Narayan Rane, who fought after forming his party Maharashtra Swabhimaan Paksh gathered 31 per cent of the votes.
Maharashtra, with its 48 Lok Sabha seats, is the second-largest contributor to the Lower House of Parliament after Uttar Pradesh.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 out of 23 seats.
Maharashtra sends 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha. The polling in the state is being held across five phases.
Polling for 11 seats in Maharashtra will be held in the third phase on May 7.
Of the 48 seats in the state, voting in 13 was conducted across the first and second phases.