Maharashtra Assembly polls: BJP drops Eknath Khadse, fields his daughter; Vinod Tawde also ignored
Mumbai, Oct 4: The BJP on Friday released its fourth list of seven candidates for the October 21 Maharashtra Assembly polls, dropping senior leader Eknath Khadse and cabinet minister Vinod Tawde.
It fielded Eknath Khadse's daughter Rohini from his Muktainagar constituency in north Maharashtra. The decision to field Rohini Khadse indicates the BJP succeeded in placating her father, who had been representing Muktainagar since 1991.
PowerMinister Chandrashekar Bawankule, senior leaders Prakash Mehta and Raj Purohit also don't figure in the list.
The party dropped Tawde, who holds the school education portfolio in the outgoing BJP-led government, and fielded Sunil Rane from his Borivali seat in Mumbai.
Purohit, the sitting MLA from Colaba in south Mumbai, has been replaced with Rahul Narvekar, son-in-law of Ramraje Nimbalkar, the Maharashtra Legislative Council chairman.
Narvekar, a former NCP MLC, joined the BJP recently.
Parag Shah is the BJP candidate in place of Mehta, a former minister, from Ghatkopar (East) in Mumbai.
Bawankule is the sitting MLA from Kamtee in Nagpur distric.
One of the senior-most BJP leaders in Maharashtra, Eknath Khadse had been sidelined in the party following allegations of corruption and that he misused his office in a land deal.
He had to resign as revenue minister in 2016 and has not been taken back into the Cabinet by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Party sources said it was made clear to him that he would not be given ticket this time.
Khadse, 67, had filed his nomination papers from the seat this week as an Independent candidate.
The BJP has so far declared candidates on 150 seats in the state which has a 288-member assembly.
The BJP and Shiv Sena are the main constituents of the ruling alliance in Maharashtra. However, they have still not officially declared their seat-sharing formula.
The Shiv Sena has given AB (nomination) forms to more than 100 candidates.
The last date of filing nomination papers is October 4, while the date for their scrutiny is October 5. Nominations can be withdrawn till October 7.
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West Bengal Class 12 results declared; overall pass percentage 91.23%
Kolkata (PTI): The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education on Thursday announced the results of its Class 12 examination, which recorded an overall pass percentage of 91.23 per cent.
The results included those of the candidates from the fourth semester under the new system, supplementary candidates of the third semester, and students appearing under the old annual examination pattern.
While the pass percentage among girls stood at 92.47 per cent, boys recorded a pass percentage of 89.71 per cent.
As many as 64 candidates -- including 56 boys and eight girls -- featured in the top 10 list. Adrito Pal of Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya secured the first rank in the state by scoring 496 out of 500 marks.
Jishnu Kundu of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith Purulia and Ritobrata Nath of Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya secured the second rank with 495 marks each.
Candidates dissatisfied with their fourth-semester results would be allowed to reappear in the examination next year after surrendering the current year's result.
According to official data, a total of 7,10,811 candidates appeared for the higher secondary examination this year.
Of them, 6,35,864 students appeared in the final semester examination under the new system, 59,452 candidates took the supplementary examination for the second semester, and 15,495 students appeared under the old annual examination pattern.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari congratulated all students who have passed the higher secondary examination in a post on X.
"Your hard work, perseverance, and self-confidence have taken the form of success. May the success inspire you to dream even bigger on the path ahead. I wish that your future be bright, that you get success in every field and that you bring glory to your family, society, and state," he wrote on social media.
