Sena concedes Kolhapur North Assembly seat to ally

The tug-of-war between Shiv Sena and the Congress over the Kolhapur North assembly segment ended with the Sena conceding the seat to its ally for the by-elections scheduled next month

Mumbai The tug-of-war between Shiv Sena and the Congress over the Kolhapur North assembly segment ended with the Sena conceding the seat to its ally for the by-elections scheduled next month.

However, there are chances that the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which are locked in a prestige battle from this seat, may have to contend with dissent in their ranks. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

However, there are chances that the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which are locked in a prestige battle from this seat, may have to contend with dissent in their ranks.

The constituency is a traditional Sena stronghold but was won by Chandrakant Jadhav of the Congress in 2019. Jadhav, a local entrepreneur, defeated two-term Shiv Sena legislator Rajesh Kshirsagar. Jadhav’s death in December from Covid related complications has necessitated the by-election on April 12.

Congress is likely to field Jadhav’s wife Jayashree, who is a former BJP corporator in the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation, and the BJP has announced the nomination of Satyajit Kadam, the nephew of local strongman and former legislator Mahadeorao Mahadik.

Satej (Bunty) Patil, minister of state for home, and Congress leader, who is also the guardian minister of Kolhapur, said that the MVA had decided to allocate this seat to the Congress in a meeting with the chief minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray. “This is as per the natural principle that the party which could get its MLA elected in the last election will get that seat,” he added.

Kshirsagar, who is the executive president of the Maharashtra State Planning Commission with the rank of a cabinet minister, was keen to contest. However, Patil said that there were no rumblings within the MVA. “We will fight as the MVA and Kshirsagar will work for our nominee as per the decision of the chief minister,” he added.

This by-election is being seen as a mandate on the popularity of the MVA after the BJP’s success in four of the five states where assembly elections were held. So far, two by-elections have been held since the MVA came to power in November 2019. In May 2021, the BJP’s Samadhan Autade had snatched the Pandharpur-Mangalwedha seat after the death of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Bharat Bhalke, while in November, Jitesh Antapurkar of the Congress held on to Deglur-Biloli that was won by his late father, Raosaheb.

Shiv Sena Kolhapur district president Sanjay Pawar said the party cadre would work for the Congress candidate. “Our party runs on aadesh (the diktats of the party leadership). The Shiv Sainiks have started campaigning and the MVA nominee will win,” he added. When asked about claims that some Shiv Sainiks may choose to exercise the NOTA option rather than casting their vote for the Congress, Pawar said that the disgruntlement in the cadre would be ironed out by senior leaders. Kshirsagar could not be contacted for his comments.

The Shiv Sena has won five of the last seven elections from Kolhapur North.

In the BJP, the choice of Kadam, a relatively new entrant to the party, has also been said to have not gone down well with loyalist workers. BJP district chief Mahesh Jadhav, who is close to former revenue minister Chandrakant Patil, was also in contention. Jadhav however said that he would go with the party’s decision, but claimed he had a better chance at victory.

Mahadeorao Mahadik’s son Amal is a former BJP MLA, while nephew Munna is a former NCP MP, who was defeated by the Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Mandlik in 2019, and has since joined the BJP. Amal’s wife Shoumika is a former chief of the Kolhapur zilla parishad (ZP) and the incumbent president of the BJP’s women’s front in the district. Mahadik himself leads a local front called the Tararani Aghadi, which is heavily invested in local politics. Kadam and Mahesh Jadhav are contenders for the BJP nomination.

The constituency, which comprises the old areas of Kolhapur city like Rajarampuri, Shahupuri, Laxmipuri and Bawda, has around one lakh each of Maratha and other backward classes (OBC) voters, 35,000 Brahmins, 20,000 Gujaratis, Marwaris and Jains, 18,000 Dalits, and 15,000 Muslims. BJP leaders admit that a rebellion by the Shiv Sena would have helped Congress by diverting some core Hindutva votes away from the BJP.