Solapur: BSP candidate withdraws name; caste key factor in 3-way contest

In order to avoid the division of Dalit votes, Bahujan Samaj Party’s Rahul Sarwade on Friday withdrew his nominations.

“Since Babasaheb’s grandson is in the fray, there were several requests asking us to withdraw the nomination. There was an emotional atmosphere. So, we have withdrawn the nomination (on Friday) as we did not want the division of votes,” said Sarwade.

He added that the BSP has not extended its support to Ambedkar. “…Our activists will now focus on the campaigning in Madha Lok Sabha constituency,” he said.

Earlier, a section of the BSP and other Dalit leaders had openly expressed their support for Ambedkar. The Lingayat community will support the BJP candidate while the Dalits will support Ambedkar, claimed leaders from the Congress and BJP.

Of the six Assembly segments in Solapur Lok Sabha constituency, three — Akkalkot, Solapur City Central and Pandharpur — are with the Congress while Mohol is with the Nationalist Congress Party. Solapur South and Solapur North are with the BJP.

Of the total 17.02 lakh voters in Solapur, 20 per cent are Lingayats, 15 per cent each Dalits and Muslims and around 30 per cent are OBCs, sources said. Click for more election news

“Since the BJP candidate is from Lingayat community, their votes from Akkalkot, Solapur South, Solapur North and Mangalwedha — a tehsil in Pandharpur Assembly segment — are likely to go to the BJP. Similarly, most Dalit votes will go to Ambedkar. We are not expecting much votes from the Dalit community,” said a BJP leader.

A Congress leader said it has been difficult for the Dalit activists in the party to campaign against Ambedkar. “So, we are not criticising Ambedkar in our campaigns. Also, Dhangar and Muslim communities, which have a sizeable presence in the region and who have stood behind us so far, may not vote for us due to the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi,” the Congress leader said.

A functionary of Vanchit Aghadi said that Ambedkar, who had in the past extended his support to the Dhangar reservation issue, has tactfully chosen seven candidates from the community. “We are expecting Dhangar votes in large numbers apart from Muslim votes,” the functionary said.

A BJP leader said that the party would get the votes of Marathas. BJP leader and Cooperation Minister Subhash Deshmukh is from the Maratha community and the recent entry of Mohite-Patils in the BJP will help us, the BJP leader said, adding that there could be division of OBC votes.