Nearly 16 months after the expulsion of two sitting BJP MP's in the cash-for-query scam, byelections will be held in the Jalgaon and Erandol constituencies on April 9.
The elections however are going to be tough sailing for the Congress-NCP combine with both parties plagued with infighting.
Incumbent NCP MLA and former minister Suresh Dada Jain could skew NCP's prospects in Erandol after being denied a ticket to fight the elections.
The NCP has favoured Vasantrao More over Jain to contest the elections against BJP's BS Patil. Meanwhile Jain has openly opposed Patil's candidature and prospects are that the Khandesh strongman could ditch NCP to join the Congress after the polls. In all there are five candidates in the fray for the Erandol seat.
Jain is also likely to play an important role in the Jalgaon constituency after he managed to secure a Congress ticket for his confidante Dr Arjun Bhangale who got a preference over ex-speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly Madhukar Chaudhary.
Bhangale faces BJP's Haribhau Javde and 10 other candidates for the Jalgaon parliamentary seat.
The byelections were necessitated after BJP's sitting MPs YG Mahajan and MK Anna Patil were disqualified from their membership after a sting operation revealed them taking money in exchange of asking questions in the Lok Sabha.
{{/usCountry}}The byelections were necessitated after BJP's sitting MPs YG Mahajan and MK Anna Patil were disqualified from their membership after a sting operation revealed them taking money in exchange of asking questions in the Lok Sabha.
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