LS Polls: Shiv Sena fields cabinet minister Sandipan Bhumre from Aurangabad seat

The Shiv Sena announced the candidature of Maharashtra cabinet minister Sandipan Bhumre from the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency for the 2024 election on Saturday.
The electoral battleground in Aurangabad, now known as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, is set for a triangular contest, with Bhumre facing off against Chandrakant Khaire of Shiv Sena (UBT) and Imtiaz Jalil of AIMIM.
On June 29, 2022, the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra cabinet approved the renaming of Aurangabad to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, after Sambhaji Bhosale, the second Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire.
Bhumre is currently overseeing the Employment Guarantee Scheme and Horticulture ministries in the Maharashtra cabinet.
Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 48 Lok Sabha parliamentary constituencies in Maharashtra state.
The polls for the five parliamentary seats in Maharashtra were held in the first phase of polling on Friday.
The state, with its 48 Lok Sabha seats, is the second-largest contributor to the lower house of Parliament after Uttar Pradesh.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 out of 23 seats.
The undivided NCP, part of the opposition alliance, contested 19 seats and won four in 2019 Lok Sabha election. Following the split in the Shiva Sena 2022, the Eknath Shinde faction aligned with the BJP