After its five-time legislator and former minister Sunil Chhatrapal Kedar was disqualified as an MLA following his conviction in a co-operative scam, the Congress has nominated his wife Anuja Kedar in his place from the Saoner seat of Nagpur district in Vidarbha region.

Her name figured in the second list of candidates released by the Congress for the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, on Saturday.. Having known beforehand that she would be nominated for the Saoner seat in place of her husband, she filed her nomination for the November 20 Assembly polls from Kedar’s home constituency.

The ruling BJP has not named its candidate from Saoner.

Sixty-three-year-old Sunil Kedar, a popular politician in his home constituency, has been an MLA for five terms (1995, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019).  He is considered close to the Gandhi family.

In December, 2023, Sunil Kedar was disqualified as an MLA following his conviction and five-year jail term by a Nagpur court in connection with an alleged Rs 150 crore cooperative bank scam, a scam that had surfaced 21 years ago.

Anuja Kedar too comes from an influential political family. She is the granddaughter of Barrister Sheshrao Krushnarao Wankhede, a former Speaker of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and a former President of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)  The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai has been named after him.

Meanwhile, the Congress released its second list of 23 candidates on Saturday. Earlier, the party had released its first list of 48 candidates

Apart from Anuja, prominent names that figured in the second list included Krushnarao Pandav (Nagpur South) Shekhar Pramodbabu Shende (Wardha), Prof Vasant Chinduji Purke (Ralegaon) and Kailas Kishanrao Gorantyal (Jalna).

In Mumbai, the  Congress has  nominated  Kalu Badheliya as its candidate  from Kandivali East, while it has fielded Yashwant Jayprakash Singh from Charkop seat.