Old rivals, new formula hurdles for Indian bloc in key Maharashtra seat

Maha Vikas Aghadi consists of Congress and factions led by Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar

Binol (UP):

The ruling alliance in Maharashtra and Maha Vikas Aghadi are facing multiple issues in finalizing the names of some Lok Sabha seats like Sangli, Madha, etc., prompting a meeting ahead of the start of five-phase polls in the state on April 19. Series of meetings.

The most important of these seats is Sangli, which was a Congress stronghold between 1962 and 2014 and was later contested by NCP-turned-BJP leader Sanjaykaka Patil. The seat was captured in 2014. He retained the seat in 2019 partly due to the presence of a BJP agent, political observer Gopal Padalkar, said Sunday.

He pointed out that Sanjaykaka Patil got over 5 lakh votes while Vishal Patil of Swabhimani Paksha and Padalkar received 300,000 votes each.

A few days ago, state Congress president Nana Patole announced Vishal Patil’s candidacy for Sangli seat. Patole said Vishal Patil comes from a politically connected country. Heritage’s family, local leadership is seeking his candidacy.

However, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray announced the name of wrestler Chandrahar Patil despite the party being an ally of the Congress.

The political observer added that Vishal Patil is a descendant of former Maharashtra chief minister Vasundada Patil, who was betrayed by NCP founder Sharad Pawar Patil and won the highest office in Maharashtra in 1978, the two families have always been rivals.

“In 2019, there was a massive disillusionment with BJP MP Sanjaykaka Patil and Sharad Pawar was aware of it. But because of this political rivalry, Pawar persuaded state Congress leaders to give up Sangli Lok Sabha seat to little-known Swabhimani Paksha Vishal Patil A close aide of cricket bat), but still received 300,000 votes. “

“This time, the Shiv Sena (UBT), which once had only one MLA, has announced its candidate without consulting the Congress. These steps mean making it easy for the BJP candidate,” the aide claimed.

Talking about the issue, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said: “Shiv Sena won both Lok Sabha constituencies in Kolhapur district (in 2019). This time, we will win Kolhapur The Assembly constituency is given to Congress and Hatkanangale to farmer leader Raju Shetti. If we do not claim Sangli, there will be no Sena Party (UBT) seat in western Maharashtra.”

In Satara, Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, won in 2019 on the ticket of the National Congress Party, But he lost electoral support after switching to the BJP. He was elected to the Bundestag but was eager to run again.

The problem is that he never had a good relationship with Ajit Pawar during his time in the NCP, who is now part of the ruling alliance as deputy chief minister. The NCP has tabled a proposal in the ruling alliance to get the Satara seat and allow Mr Bhosal to contest on the ‘clock’ symbol.

The political observer claimed that Mr. Bhosal was not keen because it would mean accepting the deputy CM’s leadership and secondly because traditional BJP voters would not vote for him.

The situation is more complicated in the Madha Lok Sabha constituency, which includes four assembly wards from Solapur and two from Satara. The prominent Ramraje Nimbalkar family from Phaltan constituency in Satara district and the Vijaysinh Mohite Patil family from Malshiras constituency in Solapur expressed dissatisfaction with the candidature of Ranjitsinh Naik Nimbalkar.

Mr Ramraje is currently a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, while the Mohite-Patil family belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil’s son Ranjitsinh is also an MLC.

Sangora (in Solapur) parliamentary constituency is a stronghold of the Farmers and Workers Party (PWP), which has won the constituency for decades except in 2019.

A few days ago, PPP leader Jayant Patil rushed to Sangora to hold talks with party workers and later met Vijaysinh Mohit-Patil.

Talking to reporters, Jayant Patil said: “The Madha results may come as a surprise. A lot of discussion is going on.” A video of Ramraje Naik-Nimbalkar addressing a rally also went viral , in which he called for a change of candidate.

Ranjitsinh Naik-Nimbalkar, the BJP candidate who won the Lok Sabha election for the first time in 2019, was not worried, telling reporters that he was trying to build consensus and was confident of the people’s support .

A political observer claimed: “Jakumar Goel, the BJP MP from Sataraman assembly constituency, is a staunch supporter of Ranjit Singh Naik-Nimbalkar. But apart from Gore, his support There are not many.”

Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil is an NCP heavyweight from Solapur and has close family ties with the Congress party. His son Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil joined the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, paving the way for Ranjitsinh Naik-Nimbalkar. Leveled the road.

The Mohit-Patil family’s relationship with the BJP has turned into one of discontent and in order to maintain control of the region it is considering jumping back to the NCP, especially after Sharad Pawar’s recent meeting After Vijay Singh Mohit Patil.

Further, a political observer said it was believed that the Madha seat has four seats from the Assembly segment of Solapur and hence the candidates should be from the district.

“This reflects the BJP’s failure to cultivate leadership in the region despite being in power for a decade. The BJP in its early years had condemned the Mohit-Patil family of Solapur or the Nai of Paltan Satara. political dynasties such as the K-Nimbarkas,” a senior political source said. said Prakash Akolkar, Mumbai Observer.

“The BJP used to criticize the Congress. Now these families are siding with the BJP and the party leadership is dragging its feet behind them,” he said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)