Maha polls: Supporters protest after Sena denies ticket to Ashok Patil

The supporters of Shiv Sena MLA Ashok Patil sat in a protest outside party chief Uddhav Thackeray's residence after the leader was denied ticket by the party to contest the upcoming Assembly polls in Maharashtra. Speaking to ANI, Shiv Sena worker Tattaram Dharma Palekar said, "Ashok Patil was the only one sympathiser to our community. We want justice, we have only one demand to give Patil a ticket to contest. We are unable to understand why he was not given a ticket. It is hard to believe that a man who worked for us effortlessly denied a ticket."

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Faith in Shiv Sena 

Palekar further asserted that they all have faith in Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya Thackeray and they will seek justice by giving Patil the ticket. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde said that Uddhav Thackrey took the final decision on ticket allocation.

"Every person works with dedication in Shiv Sena. Whatever decision will be taken by him we should follow it," he said. Patil is a current Member of the Legislative Assembly from Bhandup. He has also served as former Chairman of Mumbai's premium transport service Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).

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Maharashtra Assembly Elections

The single-phase Maharashtra polls for 288 Assembly seats are slated for October 21 along with Haryana's which is also scheduled for a single-phase state election. The results will be announced on October 24 as informed by the Election Commission. The Election Commission chief Sunil Arora also announced that the last date of nomination is on October 4.

Although Shiv Sena and BJP are contesting the elections in an alliance, the two parties have yet not disclosed their seat-share arrangement for the polls. As per reports, the seat-share arrangement is still being discussed between the two parties. However, Diwakar Raote, senior Shiv Sena leader and Minister in Maharashtra government, had recently said that the alliance will break if the Sena doesn't get to contest 50% of the seats. A few days later, Sena leader Sanjay Raut had said, "BJP will have to respect the 50-50 formula that was decided in the presence of Shah and Fadnavis."

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