Latur, Nov 5 (PTI) A high-stakes poll battle is shaping up in central Maharashtra’s Latur Rural assembly constituency, where two legislators are in the fray besides candidates from the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
A total of 18 candidates are vying for voters’ mandate in the November 20 elections and they include sitting Congress MLA Dheeraj Deshmukh, son of former chief minister the late Vilasrao Deshmukh, and BJP MLC Ramesh Karad.
Presence of MNS candidate Santosh Nagargoje and VBA nominee Dr Vijay Ajnikar has made the contest interesting in this largely rural assembly segment.
The constituency covers Renapur tehsil, a majority of villages in Latur tehsil and rural settlements around Bhada circle in Ausa town.
In the 2019 elections, BJP’s Karad, who was eyeing a ticket, received a jolt after Latur Rural was given to the united Shiv Sena by the national party in exchange for Ausa during seat-sharing talks between the saffron outfits who were then in an alliance.
However, Shiv Sena candidate Sachin Deshmukh was hardly seen during campaigning. This allowed Dheeraj Deshmukh to win the seat by a huge margin of 1,35,006 votes. Interestingly, the NOTA (none of the above) option had secured the second position with 27,500 votes, signalling dissatisfaction among a significant section of the electorate.
This time around, however, the seat has been allotted to the BJP, a key constituent of the ruling Mahayuti front, and the party has fielded Karad.
Dheeraj Deshmukh has already hit the campaign trail and is holding local meetings in various Zilla Parishad and panchayat samiti circles falling under the constituency.
MNS candidate Nagargoje started engaging with voters in rural areas since his nomination was announced last month. His direct outreach has gained attention, and Nagargoje has been receiving support from local communities.
VBA nominee Ajnikar is busy holding corner meetings and interacting with voters ahead of polling.
However, the main fight is likely to be between Deshmukh from the Congress and BJP’s Karad.
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange had previously announced to field a candidate, but later made a U-turn and said he will not be fielding or supporting any contestant in the state.
In the coming days, all candidates are expected to intensify their campaign and seek support from voters.
Polling for the 288-member assembly will take place on November 20 and votes will be counted three days later. PTI COR RSY
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