Who is Kalidas Kolambkar, candidate who won the BJP’s first victory in Maharashtra? | Latest news India

He defeated his Shiv Sena (UBT) rival Shraddha Jadhav by 24,973 votes. The BJP leader got a total of 66,800 votes, while Jadhav, former mayor of Mumbai, got 41,827 votes.

Notably, this is Kolambkar’s ninth consecutive victory, making him one of the longest-serving MLAs in the state.

The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is set to retain power in Maharashtra. The alliance won 18 seats and is leading with another 207 seats out of the 288 seats in the Assembly, according to the latest figures from the Election Commission. The Maha Vika Aghadi Alliance (MVA) won one seat and is leading with 52 seats.

Who is Kalidas Kolambkar?

• Kolambkar, 70, is known for his deep roots in the constituency. He was first elected from Wadala (formerly Naigaon) in 1990 when he was part of the undivided Shiv Sena.
• Over the decades, he has represented three different parties: the Shiv Sena, the Congress and, now, the BJP.
• A Bal Thackeray loyalist, Kolambkar left Shiv Sena with Narayan Rane in 2005 and later joined the Congress.

  Read also | In the Wadala constituency, the parties change, not the voters of this candidate

• In 2019, Kolambkar left the Congress and joined the BJP. He also managed to retain his seat in that year’s legislative elections by defeating his closest rival in Congress by more than 31,000 votes.
• The MP claimed that he quit the Congress because the party ignored the development of Wadala constituency and failed to complete pending works on police housing, redevelopment of BDD chawls and FSI additional for housing for factory workers.
• He said he joined the BJP after Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis assured him that he would get the job done.

  Read also | BJP’s Kalidas Kolambkar named pro-tem speaker of Maharashtra Assembly

• Kolambkar claims to have polled more votes in the new areas added to Wadala constituency after delimitation.
• He also claimed that he would enter the Guinness Book of World Records for winning nine elections on the trot.
• “I am contesting the parliamentary elections for the ninth term and I am sure to win because of the work I have done for the people during my political career. I will enter the Guinness Book after my victory,” Kolambkar said , 71, to PTI in an exclusive interview. before Maharashtra goes to the polls.