India, March 18 -- The Ajit Pawar-led NCP has decided to field Sanjay Khodke, an old hand in the party, as its candidate for the by-elections to five legislative council seats, slated on March 27.

Khodke has been working for the party since the undivided NCP was formed in 1999, mostly handling party administration and legislative work. He was considered a trusted aide of NCP founder Sharad Pawar but shifted allegiance to the veteran leader's nephew Ajit Pawar during the split in the party in 2023. His wife Sulbha, the then Congress MLA, joined the NCP ahead of the assembly poll in November last year and was re-elected as MLA from Amravati.

Khodke was earlier sidelined by the NCP leadership when Navneet Kaur Rana was chosen as its candid...