Close contest in Solapur a test of 40-year-old Shinde sway

The Shinde camp claims Praniti’s nearest rival will be Kothe and that she would win by at least 8,000 votes. The Kothe camp says Adam will be their closest rival and that Kothe will win by at least 7,000 votes. Adam camp too claims victory by 5,000 votes.

“The Congress has been badly hit by presence of MIM candidate Taufiq Shaikh. Its votes have got divided,” says Vishnupanth Kothe, father of Mahesh Kothe. He says 40,000-odd Telugu votes will get divided between Kothe and Adam. “The maximum Telgu votes will go to my son as Adam is not considered a Telgu because of some reasons. Besides, Mahesh has always won as corporator from Solapur with highest margin of victory.”

However, Onkar Dhekle, secretary of Praniti Shinde, says educated  Muslim votes have gone in favour of the Congress. “It is 60-40 for Muslim votes. Praniti will get around 40 per cent of Muslim votes. Nearly 34,000 thousands Muslims have voted,” he says.

The Adam camp, however, says it will be a fight between Congress and CPM. “The exit polls might predict a win for the Shiv Sena, but we believe Adam will win by a close margin,” said a close associate of Adam.

Living in a city with bad roads, mountains of  garbage and extreme water shortage, the voters in Solapur did not turn out in big numbers to vote. However, the defeat of Sushil Kumar Shinde with a massive margin in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year coupled with a low-key candidate in the Assembly polls had put a question mark on the continuation of the Shinde supremacy.

Sushilkumar Shinde had already declared he would not contest any more elections. His wife had lost the only Lok Sabha elections she contested. Praniti had won the 2009 Assembly elections, but her father had trailed from Solapur Assembly segment in the recent Lok Sabha elections by 18,000 votes.

Both Praniti’s rivals have strong base in Solapur. Narsayya Adam (70) is one of them. Popularly known as Adam master, the three-time MLA has been contesting from Solapur on a CPM ticket since 1972. He had caused quite a stir in Solapur in this election, especially among the 80,000 strong Muslim community.

“I got a housing project approved from the central government for 22,000 poor Muslim workers. But Sushilkumar Shinde went to then chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and succeeded in stalling the project,” Adam says.

The Shindes, however, deny the allegation. “In fact, the then CM had clearly stated that no housing project could be allowed on the basis of one’s religion…Besides, Adam never showed any letter which showed approval of the central government to the project,” Dhekle says.

Vishnupanth Kothe (79), once the trusted lieutenant of Shindes, has opted out for his son Mahesh Kothe, who himself has a winning track record. He had won civic wards for five consecutive times with the highest margin. The Kothes had campaigned aggressively against Praniti, alleging that Shindes fleeting between Solapur-Mumbai-Delhi never had any time for Solapur.

The Praniti camp, however, claims she has implemented works worth Rs 1500 crore in her constituency, which will stand in good stead for her.