Mumbai: Battlelines are drawn for the Phase-3 of the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra which would decide the fate of several high-profile candidates including Supriya Sule, Sunetra Pawar, Pankaja Munde, Narayan Rane and two descendants of legendary Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
The 11 seats going to polls are spread across three geographical regions - seven in Western Maharashtra (Satara, Kolhapur, Baramati, Sangli, Solapur, Madha and Hatkanangle), two Marathwada (Latur and Osmanabad) and two in Konkan (Raigad and Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg).
Top leaders from both the political formations— Maha Yuti (NDA) and Maha Vikas Aghadi (I.N.D.I.A) are in the running.
The most important contest is in Baramati, where three-time sitting MP Supriya Sule, the daughter of NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar, is pitted against Sunetra Pawar, the wife of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar— who has anointed himself as the NCP president after the June-July 2023 coup in the 25-year-old party founded by the Maratha strongman.
In Satara, Shrimant Chhatrapati UdayanRaje Bhosale, the 13th direct descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who is a BJP Rajya Sabha member is contesting against NCP (SP)’s Shashikant Shinde, a former minister.
In Kolhapur, Shrimant Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj, the 12th descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and grandson of Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu of Kolhapur, has been fielded by the Congress against Sanjay Mandlik of Shiv Sena headed by chief minister Eknath Shinde. The Prakash Ambedkar-led VBA and Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM had extended support to the Kolhapur royal.
Sangli would witness a triangular contest involving champion wrestler Chandrahar Patil, who has been fielded by Shiv Sena (UBT) headed by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, two-time sitting BJP MP Sanjayaka Patil and Congress rebel and Independent candidate Vishal Patil, the grandson of legendary Congressman Vasantdada Patil, who was chief minister thrice between 1976-1985 and had also served as governor of Rajasthan.
The Solapur (SC) seat’s battle involves two sitting BJP MLAs, Congress nominee Praniti Shinde, the daughter of former chief minister and ex-home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and BJP’s Ram Satpute.
In Madha, the contest is between sitting BJP MP Ranjitsinh Naik-Nimbalkar and Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil of NCP (SP).
In Hatkanangle, farmers leader Raju Shetti of Swabhimani Paksha, who is a former MP, has been pitted against Satyajit Patil of Shiv Sena (UBT) and Dhairyasheel Mane of Shiv Sena.
In the Latur (SC) seat, sitting BJP MP Sudhakar Shrangare would take on Shivajirao Kalge of the Congress.
In Osmanabad, Archana Patil, the wife of BJP MLA Rana Jagjitsinh Patil is fighting her husband’s cousin Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar, who is with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and a sitting MP. Archana Patil is daughter-in-law of veteran politician Padamsinh Patil, who is step-brother of Sunetra Pawar, the wife of Ajit Pawar.
In Raigad, Ajit Pawar’s close aide and state NCP president Sunil Tatkare, a sitting MP would take on Anant Geete of Shiv Sena (UBT).
One of the most interesting contests is in Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, where BJP’s union minister Narayan Rane, a former chief minister and ex-leader of opposition would take on two-time time MP Vinayak Raut.
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