Congress fields Ulhas Patil from Raver against BJP's Khadse

The Congress announced the candidature of Ulhas Patil from the Raver Lok Sabha seat where he will take on sitting BJP MP Raksha Khadse.

Raver is with the NCP, as part of the alliance between the two principal opposition parties in Maharashtra, but has been given to the Congress, NCP state unit chief Jayant Patil said.

Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan said Patil's name was announced by AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal and general secretary in charge of Maharashtra Mallikarjun Kharge here.

Last week, the Congress and NCP decided to contest 26 and 22 seats respectively in Maharashtra.

Both parties decided to leave two seats each from their quota for other allies.

Accordingly, the Congress was to contest 24 and NCP 20 Lok Sabha seats.

With Raver coming into the Congress' fold, the party will now contest 25 seats against the NCP's 19.

In another development, Praveen Gaikwad, who was earlier associated with the Maratha outfit Sambhaji Brigade and the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP), joined the Congress.

Congress sources said he could be fielded from Pune Lok Sabha seat.