Thackeray faction says Latke being pressured to contest as Shinde camp candidate

The Uddhav Thackerayled Shiv Sena faction on Wednesday alleged that Rutuja Latke their candidate for the November 3 byelection to Andheri East Assembly seat in Mumbai was being pressured by the Eknath Shinde camp to contest on their ticketThe byelection necessitated by the death of incumbent Sena MLA and Rutuja Latkes husband Ramesh Latke would be the first electoral test for the Uddhav Thackeray faction following the split in the party in June this yearAfter the Thackerayled Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed in June Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra along with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as deputy CMRutuja Latke on Wednesday said she has not met CM Shinde and maintained that she will contest the bypoll on the Thackeray factions mashaal symbolTalking to reporters here former Maharashtra minister Anil Parab belonging to the Thackeray faction claimed Rutuja Latkes resignation as an administrative officer in the K ward of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC was not being accepted to force her to contest as the Shinde groups candidateIf her resignation is not accepted in the next two days she would not be able to file her nomination papers by October 14 a party leader earlier saidAlso Read Cases filed against seven leaders of Uddhav Thackeray camp for offensive statements against Maharashtra CM Eknath ShindeParab said Rutuja Latke has moved the high court in this matter and expressed confidence that she will remain loyal to the Thackerayled Sena factionThe Andheri East seat belonged to the Shiv Sena We will contest and win You will know our next course of action if Rutuja Latke is unable to contest he saidParab also said Rutuja need not buckle under pressure to keep her out of the poll fray or make her contest as the Shinde faction candidateHe said BMC commissioner I S Chahal was not giving reasons why her resignation was not being acceptedShe resigned on September 2 but was told recently that her letter was not in proper format She has given a fresh resignation letter which is yet to be accepted Parab saidWhen reporters asked Rutuja Latke if she was under pressure she said Do I look soShe expressed confidence that her resignation from the BMC will be acceptedLike my late husband my loyalty is with Uddhav Thackeray she told reporters outside the BMC commissioners officeThe Congress and NCP have pledged support to the Thackerayled Sena faction in the bypoll The BJP is likely to field Murji PatelThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever