Maharashtra: Battle lines drawn for 11 Lok Sabha constituencies going to polls in 3rd phase

Baramati, Hatkanangale, Kolhapur, Latur, Madha, Osmanabad, Raigad, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Sangli, Satara and Solapur are covered under the third phase of polling

Post Monday deadline for withdrawal of nominations for Lok Sabha polls, the fight among key contenders for 11 of the 48 constituencies in Maharashtra has been finalised.

According to political observers, the trend is overall in the entire Maharashtra, especially in seats where contest is very close. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO) (HT_PRINT)

While there are multiple players in the fray, the main fight is between candidates from the Mahayuti comprising Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena and Maha Vikas Aghadi, which has Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and NCP (SCP) as alliance partners. Follow full coverage of the Lok Sabha elections here.

The constituencies — seven from western Maharashtra, two each from Konkan and Marathwada — are not only politically crucial, but also have considerable hold by both alliances. They will go to polls on May 7.

Baramati, Hatkanangale, Kolhapur, Latur, Madha, Osmanabad, Raigad, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Sangli, Satara and Solapur are covered under the third phase of polling.

For NCP chief Ajit Pawar, 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 the Pawar family bastion of Baramati, Ajit’s wife Sunetra is locked in a fierce battle against Supriya Sule, the three-term Member of Parliament (MP) and daughter of NCP (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar. 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.

The Osmanabad Lok Sabha seat is traditionally a battle ground 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.

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 (SCP). 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.

Chandrakant Patil, BJP leader and Solapur district guardian minister, addressing workers on April 17, said, “While Solapur Lok Sabha seat is slightly tough, recent political developments have made Madha seat tougher. Hence, we all have to work hard to win both seats.” Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was quick to contradict Patil while expressing confidence of BJP winning the Madha Lok Sabha constituency.

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.

Meanwhile, all prominent leaders like chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis are leaving no stone unturned to repeat their party’s 2019 performance. The BJP is expected to go for throttle in bid to maintain its performance in the last two general elections, but it faces several hurdles in its “Mission 45+”.

It is advantage BJP that the polls came at the time when Congress is in a disarray with prominent leaders jumping ship, while Sena and NCP are facing an existential crisis.

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). The seat caught attention after Sena (UBT) announced Patil’s candidature while refusing Shetti’s demand for MVA support. Independent MLA Prakash Awade’s decision to not enter the fray has offered respite for Mahayuti candidate Dhairyasheel.

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 known as the 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.

In another seat, BJP has declared Union minister Narayan Rane as its candidate from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg against Sena (UBT) existing MP Vinayak Raut. The outcome may depend on how Sena’s local leaders, including Kiran Samant and minister Deepak Kesarkar, along with the cadre take efforts for Rane. It’s the first time during past few decades that Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg contest does not have any candidate fighting polls on bow and arrow symbol of Sena.

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

Meanwhile, many political bigwigs of both alliances are set to visit the constituencies as part of political canvassing with barely a fortnight left for polling.