Lok Sabha elections 2024: Family feud to play out in Maharashtra's Osmanabad

Osmanabad/Mumbai: Intense family rivalry is expected to play out in the Osmanabad Lok Sabha seat of Marathwada region, where the fight is between Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar, who is with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Archana Patil of Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

They are part of the extended Pawar-clan.

Couple of years ago, the Maharashtra government renamed Osmanabad district as Dharashiv, which lies in the Deccan Plateau.

The district houses the Tulja Bhavani Temple, one of the 51 Shakti-Pithas and the tiny village of Ter, which offers a window of India's trade with Rome in Europe several centuries ago.

It has been mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea as Tagara and described as the most prosperous trading centre in the Dakshinapatha.

The Osmanabad Lok Sabha seat is spread across the three districts of Dharashiv, Latur and Solapur.

The Dharashiv district covers Omerga (SC), Tuljapur, Osmanabad and Paranda.

Ausa in Latur and Barshi in Solapur too falls in this district.

Independent MLA Rajendra Raut represents Barshi, while Ausa is represented by Abhimanyu Pawar, a close aide of BJP’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Rana Jagjitsinha Patil represents Tuljapur, while the two other seats are represented by Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena - Dhanraj Chougule in Omerga (SC) and Dr Tanaji Sawant (Shiv Sena), while Kailas Patil holds the Osmanabad sear. It was Patil who hoodwinked and ran away when he was being taken to Gujarat during the rebellion and is now part of the Shiv Sena (UBT).

Archana Patil is the wife of Rana Jagjitsinha Patil, who was once an NCP minister in the erstwhile Democratic Front government.

Rana Jagjitsinha Patil is the son of veteran politician Dr Padmasinh Patil, who had been a two-time MLC, eight-time MLA from Osmanabad and MP from Osmanabad in 2009. He was also a close aide of Sharad Pawar and have held several portfolios including Energy.

In fact, Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar, who is contesting against Supriya Sule in Baramati, is the step sister of Padamsinh Patil.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Om Raje Nimbalkar (unified Shiv Sena) defeated Rana Jagjitsinha Patil, then in NCP. However, ahead of 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls, he joined the BJP and won the Tuljapur seat after changing his seat from Osmananbad.

This time OmRaje Nimbalkar faces Rana Jagjitsinha Patil’s wife.

OmRaje Nimbalkar’s father PawanRaje Nimbalkar, a Congress leader, was shot dead on June 3, 2006 at Kalamboli off the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. PawanRaje Nimbalkar’s cousin Dr Padmasinh Patil, who was the sitting MP, was arrested in the case, however, he is currently on bail.

“The local politics and control of local bodies and cooperatives turned into a family rivalry between the Nimbalkars and Patils. There have been several incidents of public spats,” said a source, who had worked in Osmanabad and had worked with bureaucrats and politicians. "The tussle also involved control over the Terna Sugarcane Factory and Osmanabad District Central Co-operative Bank Ltd," the source added.