Splitting of parties, clan prestige loom large ahead of Phase 3 in Maharashtra
The Mahayuti alliance is straining every sinew to obliterate the inuence of the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition in the seats; prestige of Maharashtra’s most inuential political clans — the Pawars, the Ranes, the Shindes, the Tatkares — hang in the balance i
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday wrote letters to all NDA candidates in the fray in the third phase of the Lok Sabha election, asking them to take on the Congress’s “divisive agenda” of giving reservation to Muslims by snatching it from the SCs, the STs, and the OBCs, and
“dangerous ideas” like bringing in inheritance tax.
Stressing that the current polls were “no ordinary election”, he said: “They [Opposition] are bent upon taking away the hard-earned wealth of the people and giving it to their vote bank. The Congress has also made it clear that they will bring in dangerous ideas like inheritance tax. The nation must unite to stop them.”
“I send you my wishes for your victory in the election”, the Prime Minister said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray addressing a public meeting for the Lok Sabha elections, in Solapur on Monday.
Modi asked the candidates to take on Congress’s ‘divisive’ agenda. he seismic political shifts to roil Maharashtra’s politics in the form of vertical splits within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena, coupled with clan rivalry and internecine conicts within the ruling and Opposition alliances loom large over the crucial third phase of the Lok Sabha election.
Like a John le Carré Cold War thriller, the principals on these 11 Lok Sabha seats (including those in the prosperous ‘sugar belt’ districts), which go to the polls on May 7, have switched sides with bewildering rapidity, rendering the contest in this phase unpredictable owing to the personality-centric politics that have prevailed here.
Amid a maze of byzantine intrigue, the prestige of State’s most inuential political clans — the Pawars (Baramati), the Ranes (Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg), the Shindes (Solapur), the Tatkares (Raigad) — hang in the balance in a string of high prole contests.
The ruling Mahayuti alliance (the BJP along with Chief Minister Eknath
TMore than 10 days after Phase 1 and four days after Phase 2 of polling in the Lok Sabha election, the Election Commission on Tuesday released the final voter turnout figures — 66.14% in the first round and 66.7% in the second phase.
During the last Lok Sabha
Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction) is straining every sinew to obliterate the inuence of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition in these seats — the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) in Baramati, Madha, Satara; the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray or BT) in Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Raigad, Dharashiv; and the Congress in Latur, Solapur, Kolhapur and Sangli.
The Baramati Lok Sabha ght is microcosmic of the third phase, where one of the keenest electoral showdowns in the country has political rookie Sunetra Pawar (the Mahayuti’s candidate) squaring-o¡ against her sister-in-law Supriya Sule, seeking re-election elections in 2019, the first phase final turnout was shared two days after the voting. The turnout for the first phase in 2019 was 69.43%, while for the second phase, it was was 69.44 %.
Both phases show a dip in voting percentages.
Earlier in the day, the Opposition questioned the EC’s delay in the sharing of final turnout data. CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the delay “raises serious apprehensions on manipulation of results”.
Gandhiji had said Congress should be dissolved after Independence. But they didn’t listen to him. Now the people of India are bent on nishing Cong. RAJNATH SINGH
Defence Minister
for the fourth time.
After Ajit Pawar’s adhesion to the ruling alliance in 2023, the BJP nally sees a chance in storming the hitherto impregnable bastion of the Pawar clan, long considered the sa¡ron party’s holy grail in its mission to win 45 of the State’s 48 Lok Sabha seats.
Pawar clash
Both Ajit Pawar and his uncle Mr. Sharad Pawar have indulged in frantic canvassing for their respective candidates, with Mr. Ajit Pawar holding out the lure of Central funds owing directly to Baramati in the future while the 83-year-old Mr. Pawar senior uses his emotional pull to combat his rebellious nephew.
Though in his twilight years, Mr. Sharad Pawar, with his deft manoeuvring, has made things tough for the BJP- Mahayuti in Madha (in Solapur) by weaning away the politically inuential Mohite-Patil clan from the BJP over to his side and elding Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil as the MVA’s candidate.
Mr. Mohite-Patil takes on the BJP’s sitting Madha MP Ranjitsinh Naik-Nimbalkar.
In the Konkan, things aren’t exactly balmy for the BJP and the Shinde Sena as Union Minister Narayan Rane, elded from the key Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat, risks political oblivion if he loses the contest against the Sena (UBT) candidate, incumbent MP Vinayak Raut. The seat was
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday filed the nomination papers from Hinjili Assembly seat for the sixth consecutive time.
Mr. Patnaik, who is set to become the longest serving Chief Minister if his party wins the Assembly election, was flanked by his close aides.
Amit Shah has claimed at a meeting that we have not sent utilisation certi cates
2.2 crore spending by our govt. I challenge him to prove it MAMATA BANERJEE
West Bengal Chief Minister
a erce bone of contention between the BJP and its ally, the Shinde Sena.
In Raigad, Mr. Ajit Pawar’s lieutenant and sitting MP, the NCP’s Sunil Tatkare, faces a tough ght as he squares o¡ with his old rival, former Union Minister and Sena (UBT) leader Anant Geete, whom he had beaten in the 2019 Lok Sabha Election by a thin margin.
Shivaji’s descendants
In the sugar heartland of Satara and Kolhapur, the Mahayuti and the MVA have elded direct descendants of the legendary Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji.
Udayanraje Bhosale (the 13th direct descendant of Shivaji) is the BJP’s choice for Satara while Shahu Chhatrapati (Shivaji’s 12th direct descendant) is the MVA’s choice for Kolhapur.
The selection makes strategic sense given the deep reverence of the electorate towards the Maratha royals.
They have also been propped up with an eye to cashing on the Maratha agitation, which was strongly backed by both Mr. Bhosale and Mr. Shahu Chhatrapati, and both are respected by quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil.
Hatkanangale, the other
Lok Sabha seat in Kolhapur, sees incumbent MP Dhairyashee Mane of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena take on Satyajeet Patil of the Sena (UBT).
However, the real contest here is between Mr. Mane and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana chief Raju Shetti, the ‘third force’ in the fray and a former two-term MP. Contesting independently, Mr. Shetti is attempting to reclaim lost ground by taking on the rich sugar barons by focusing on farmers’ woes, poor agricultural produce, and water issues.
In the doddering Congress bastion of Solapur, the MVA’s Praniti Shinde, daughter of veteran Congressman Sushilkumar Shinde, faces the BJP’s Ram Satpute. This time, Ms. Shinde, bolstered by Sena (UBT), is said to be in a strong position.
Yet, despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s frequent visits to western Maharashtra, harping on the scrapping of Article 370 and raising the bogey of the Congress awarding OBC reservation to Muslims, this region will see a settling of scores on May 7 as many have not taken kindly to the splits engineered by the sa¡ron party within the Shiv Sena and the NCP.