11 seats in Maharashtra’s sugar belt, drought-prone areas go to polls today

A high-stake battle is expected in Baramati, where Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule is pitted against Sunetra Pawar, wife of the veteran leader’s estranged nephew and Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar

The state will see 11 of its parliamentary seats, where most battles are intensely fought, going to polls on Tuesday as part of the third phase of voting. The weather department forecasts above normal temperature within the range of 42–43 degrees Celsius in most of the 11 constituencies going to polls from western Maharashtra, Marathwada and Konkan.

Most of these constituencies are facing water scarcity and known for sugarcane production where the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had considerable clout till 2019 before the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tried to make an impact. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The heat conditions have made the task of the Election Commission for voters to exercise franchise difficult. In 2019, these seats had reported average polling of 64 per cent with urban parts lagging behind rural areas.

A high-stake battle is expected in Baramati, where Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule is pitted against Sunetra Pawar, wife of the veteran leader’s estranged nephew and Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

Polling will also take place in Raigad, Osmanabad, Latur, Solapur, Madha, Sangli, Satara, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Kolhapur and Hatkanangale seats. Most of these constituencies are facing water scarcity and known for sugarcane production where the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had considerable clout till 2019 before the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tried to make an impact.

The prominent contestants whose fate will be sealed in this phase are royal scions Shahu Chhatrapati of the Congress in Kolhapur and BJP’s Udayanraje Bhosale in Satara, and Union minister Narayan Rane in Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg.

Baramati is not just seen as a battle of prestige but also a seat that will decide the legacy of Pawars as both Ajit and Sharad Pawar face off first time in electoral battle after the party’s split. In 2014, Sule braved the “Modi wave”, clinching the seat with a lead of over 70,000 votes. Five years later, she reinforced their stronghold with an impressive margin of 1.55 lakh votes. However, the current scenario is different, with the NCP facing internal divisions, leading to a fragmentation of their traditional voter base.

For NCP chief Ajit, the contest in three constituencies – Baramati, Raigad, Osmanabad – is important for his political future. “These three seats will be key to decide whether voters are with Ajit or not,” said political analyst Abhay Deshpande.

In Raigad, the erstwhile stronghold of Peasants Workers Party (PWP), NCP’s state president Sunil Tatkare has locked horns with Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Anant Geete. In the last general elections, Tatkare had won the seat by a close margin of 30,000 votes in 2019 even as his and the rival’s party have witnessed split.

In Ratnagiri, Union minister and Rajya Sabha MP Narayan Rane contesting on a BJP ticket from Sindhudurg-Ratnagiri against Vinayak Raut, the sitting MP and candidate of Shiv Sena (UBT).

For BJP, Madha and Solapur have turned out to be a tough contest considering the defections and the Opposition ticking right boxes. In Madha, BJP’s sitting MP Ranjitsinh Naik Nimbalkar is back in the fray against Dhairyasheel Mohite Patil of NCP (SP). Mohite Patil was with BJP, but while opposing Nimbalkar’s name, he and his uncle Vijaysinh Mohite Patil rebelled against the saffron party and returned to Sharad Pawar’s party. The rebellion by the Mohites and local satraps like Uttam Jankar, coupled with resentment among NCP leaders like Ramraje Nimbalkar, has made the contest difficult for BJP.

The Solapur parliamentary seat has seen both Congress and BJP fielding legislators. Initially, BJP tried to poach Congress leader Praniti Shinde to contest the Solapur election, but after her refusal has pitted Malshiras MLA Ram Satpute against Praniti, who is a three-term Congress legislator and daughter of Sushil Kumar Shinde.

This is the third consecutive election in which BJP has changed its candidate to prevent anti-incumbency. To avoid segregation of votes, AIMIM withdrew its candidate from Solapur constituency.

The Osmanabad Lok Sabha seat is traditionally a battleground for two politically dominated families, including Padmasinh Patil and Pawanraje Nimbalkar. Now, the second generation of both families are facing each other. Shiv Sena (UBT) has filed sitting MP Omraje Nimbalkar and NCP has given the ticket to Archana Patil, daughter-in-law of Padmasinh Patil. Ahead of the election, Archana joined NCP while her husband Rana Jagjit Sinh is still with BJP.

Hatkanangale constituency is facing a four-cornered fight among Dhairyasheel Mane of Shiv Sena, Satyajeet Patil from Shiv Sena (UBT), farmer leader Raju Shetti as an independent, and Dadasaheb Patil from Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA).

In Kolhapur, the Congress appears to have finally given a strong candidate as during the seat negotiation, the party had almost left the seat for UBT, but Chhatrapati Shahu insisted to contest the seat on Congress symbol. The Congress then exchanged the Kolhapur seat by giving Sangli to Shiv Sena (UBT). Chhatrapati Shahu, descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, locks horns with Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Mandlik. Mandlik’s remarks on Shahu that he is not the real heir of the Chhatrapati family has triggered a row with a potential to impact voters.

The neighbouring Sangli seat has been in the news after the Shiv Sena (UBT) announced wrestler Chandrahar Patil as its candidate, prompting Congress leader Vishal Patil to rebel and contest polls as an independent. Sangli seat is now witnessing a three-cornered contest of Chandrahar, Vishal as an independent and Sanjay Kaka Patil, a sitting MP from the BJP.

From Satara, BJP Rajya Sabha MP and Shivaji Maharaj descendant Udayanraje Bhosale is in the fray against NCP (SCP) MLC Shashikant Shinde who is a trade union leader. From Mahayuti, NCP was keen to contest the seat, but Bhosale finally had his way and he insisted to fight polls from BJP. Sitting MP from NCP (SCP) Shriniwas Patil was not interested to fight elections considering his health issues as a result the party picked the trade union leader.

Latur is another bastion of the Congress with the party having won 11 of the 15 general elections with former Union home Minister Shivraj Patil Chakurkar getting elected seven times. BJP has won the seat in the last 10 years. It has nominated existing MP Sudhakar Shrangare against Congress candidate Dr Shivaji Kalage. Ahead of the general elections, BJP inducted Chakurkar’s daughter-in-law Archana Patil in its camp.

“These are politically important seats that will decide which party has dominance in Maharashtra, especially after the splits,” Deshpande said.