HC clears path for Uddhav Thackeray’s candidate to take part in by-poll

Mumbai: Bombay High Court clears the path for Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’s candidates to take the contest in the by-poll election by directing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to accept the resignation of its employee and the party’s candidate for the Andheri (East) Assembly on November 3, Rutuja Latke.

A Division Bench of Justice Nitin Jamdar and Sharmila Deshmukh asked the competent authority of the BMC to issue a letter to that effect by 11 a.m. on Friday. The court’s move would pave the way for Ms. Latke to file her nomination papers today.

The by-poll is the first electoral test of the faction-led Uddhav Thackeray after the party split in June.

While the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party have extended their support to Ms. Latke, the Eknath Shinde-led Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena-BJP alliance is yet to announce its candidate.