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Journalism of Courage
After several rounds of negotiations, swapping of candidates and attempts to quell discontent, the names of candidates for the second phase of elections in eight Lok Sabha seats of Maharashtra have been finalised.
The second phase, which will be held on April 26, is set to be a testing battle especially for Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as he attempts to keep the Sena’s flock together after he had to change candidates as per the BJP’s instructions.
The eight Lok Sabha seats include five from Vidarbha and three from Marathwada region, where the ruling Shiv Sena is contesting on three, the BJP on four while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP has given its lone seat to ally Rashtriya Samaj Party (RSP). From the opposition, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena will contest on four seats, the Congress on three and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) on one.
Prataprao Jadhav (Shiv Sena) vs Narendra Khedekar (Shiv Sena-UBT)
Three-time Lok Sabha MP Prataprao Jadhav switched to Eknath Shinde Sena after the rebellion in the party. While he is seeking his fourth term in Lok Sabha, the rebellion within the ruling alliance is likely to harm him as former BJP MLA Vijayraj Shinde has filed nomination as an independent. Farmer leader Ravikant Tupkar has also decided to contest this time.
From opposition, Uddhav Sena has fielded Narendra Khedekar, former Zilla Parishad chief. A loyalist of Thackeray, Khedekar was to contest Assembly elections in 2019 but was not given the ticket.
Anup Dhotre (BJP) vs Abhay Patil (Cong) vs Prakash Ambedkar (VBA)
Akola is set to be one of the most interesting fights in Maharashtra with Ambedkar trying to win this seat against two newcomers from the national parties.
BJP has fielded Anup Dhotre, son of sitting MP Sanjay Dhotre, while Congress has given ticket to famous surgeon from Akola Abhay Patil. Congress, naming a popular Maratha face from Akola, has made the election tough for the BJP.
Ambedkar will be contesting from hometurf and hopes to attract Muslim and Dalit votes, which traditionally go with Congress.
Navneet Rana (BJP) vs Balwant Wankhede (Cong) vs Dinesh Boob (Prahar)
Despite the opposition from leaders within the party and allies, BJP has decided to field sitting Lok Sabha MP Navneet Rana. In 2019, she contested as an independent with support from Congress and NCP, but switched sides after the results. Congress has three out of six MLAs in this seat and has fielded sitting MLA from Daryapur, Balwant Wankhede. Prahar party led by MLA Bachchu Kadu, which is a part of the NDA, has fielded Dinesh Boob and has declared opposition to Rana.
Ramdas Tadas (BJP) vs Amar Kale (NCP-SP)
Two-time Lok Sabha MP Ramdas Tadas will try a hat-trick of victory riding on PM Narendra Modi’s popularity and support of Teli community in the constituency. The opposition, however, sprung a surprise with former Congress MLA Amar Kale joining Sharad Pawar-led NCP. His candidature from NCP-SP, instead of infighting-laden Congress, and a new, young and clean Kunbi face has made this election tougher for BJP.
Rajashri Patil (Shiv Sena) vs Sanjay Deshmukh (Shiv Sena-UBT)
With negative surveys on her name, sitting Eknath Shinde-led Sena MP Bhavana Gawali was denied the ticket from this seat despite her last-minute efforts to retain it. Sena has given ticket to Hingoli sitting MP Hemant Patil’s wife Rajashri, who is a well-known businessperson. Gawali, facing ED probe, had switched to Shinde’s Sena after the split in the party.
Thackeray-led Sena has given ticket to Sanjay Deshmukh, former MLA and arch-rival of minister Sanjay Rathod. Deshmukh had switched to BJP and has made his return to Sena.
Baburao Kadam-Kohalikar (Shiv Sena) vs Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar (Shiv Sena-UBT)
Ruling Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde faced an embarrassment in Hingoli after it had to cancel sitting MP Hemant Patil’s name after BJP pressured the party owing to surveys in the constituency. Kadam-Kohalikar is a current Nanded district head of the Sena and has contested the election as an independent in 2019.
Thackeray’s Sena has given ticket to former MLA Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar who is also the Nanded district head of Thackeray’s Sena.
Prataprao Patil-Chikhlikar (BJP) vs Vasant Chavan (Cong)
Despite the switch by former Chief Minister and Congress leader Ashok Chavan to BJP, the election is set to be interesting with Congress giving ticket to former MLA Vasant Chavan. Chavan’s nomination rally at Nanded drew impressive crowd forcing the BJP to rethink its strategy. BJP has given ticket to sitting MP who had defeated Chavan in 2019.
Sanjay Jadhav (Shiv Sena-UBT) vs Mahadev Jankar (RSP)
Sitting Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Jadhav, who chose to remain loyal with Uddhav Thackeray, has been again given the ticket by the party in the highly polarised Parbhani LS seat. The ruling alliance had left the seat for Ajit Pawar-led NCP, which has been given to Dhangar community leader Mahadev Jankar. NCP hopes to gain from this act in high-profile Baramati and Madha seats in the form of additional Dhangar votes.
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