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The family fights in Maharashtra Assembly polls – Firstpost

The family fights in Maharashtra Assembly polls – Firstpost


The battle for Maharashtra is on. From Thackerays to Pawars, many families are in the fray as the western state elects the 288-member House in a single phase on November 20.

There is a contest between close relatives in at least five constituencies. Fathers and daughters, uncles and nephews and even husband and wife are facing each other. Let’s take a look at the families fighting the Maharashtra Assembly elections.

Pawar vs Pawar

It is a high-octane contest in Baramati. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar is defending the seat he has won seven times against his nephew, Yugendra Pawar.

Yugendra, who is making his electoral debut, has been fielded by NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar). He is the son of Shrinivas Pawar, brother of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and is close to
Sharad Pawar.

This is the second time Baramati is witnessing a Pawar vs Pawar fight. Earlier this year, NCP (SP) leader and Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule defeated Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar in the Lok Sabha elections from the constituency.

Husband vs wife

Another interesting battle is brewing in the Kannad Assembly seat in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Harshvardhan Jadhav, who is fighting as an Independent, is up against his estranged wife Sanjana Jadhav, a Shiv Sena candidate. The duo comes from political families.

Harshvardhan is the son of former Congress MLA from Kannad, the late Raibhan Jadhav. Sanjana is the daughter of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Union minister Raosaheb Danve.

Harshvardhan won the Kannad Assembly seat in 2009 on Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) ticket. He contested the polls on a Shiv Sena ticket in 2014 and won again. However, he quit as an MLA in 2018 over the government’s handling of the Maratha quota agitation.

According to his affidavit for the 2024 Assembly elections, Harshvardhan said he has been “separated since 2019 but not yet divorced”. However, Sanjana has mentioned ‘married’ in her affidavit, reported Indian Express.

Other relatives against each other

In the Sindhkhedraja constituency, Rajendra Shingne of the NCP (SP) is squaring off with his niece Gayatri Shingne of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

BJP’s Rahul Aher is fighting against his brother Keda Aher, an independent, in Nashik’s Chandwad.

The Aheri constituency in Gadchiroli district will see a contest between NCP minister Dharmarao Baba Atram and his daughter Bhagyashree Atram-Halgekar, who has been fielded by NCP (SP). It will be a triangular fight as Ambrishrao Atram, the nephew of the four-time sitting MLA DB Atram, is in the fray as an independent candidate.

The NCP’s Prataprao Patil Chikhalikar is facing off against his brother-in-law, Shyamsunder Shinde, in the Loha-Kandhar constituency. As per The Hindu, Shinde of the Peasant and Workers Party previously won the Assembly election with Chikhalikar’s support.

Families in 2024 Maharashtra Assembly polls

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, the son of former
Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, is seeking to retain the Worli Assembly constituency. He is being challenged by Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena’s sitting Rajya Sabha member Milind Deora.

Aaditya’s maternal cousin Varun Sardesai is the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate from Vandre (Bandra) East Assembly constituency. Zeeshan Siddique, the son of the late Baba Siddique, is seeking re-election from the seat on an NCP ticket.

Raj Thackeray’s son and Aaditya’s cousin, Amit Thackeray, is in the race from the Mahim seat in Mumbai. He is pitted against Shiv Sena’s Sada Sarvankar and Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Mahesh Sawant.

maharashtra assembly polls
MNS candidate and son of party Chief Raj Thackeray, Amit Thakeray during a rally to file his nomination papers for Maharashtra Assembly elections, in Mumbai, October 28, 2024. File Photo/PTI

BJP Mumbai president Ashish Shelar is in the fray from Vandre (Bandra) West, facing Asif Zakaria of the Congress. His brother Vinod Shelar is fighting on a BJP ticket from Malad West against the sitting Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh.

It will be a multi-cornered fight in Islampur, where NCP (SP) Maharashtra chief Jayant Patil is taking on NCP’s Nishikant Patil, Amol Vikas of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Satish Shivaji Date of the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP).

In Karjat-Jamkhed, Rohit Pawar, Ajit Pawar’s nephew and grandnephew of Sharad Pawar, is the NCP (SP) candidate against BJP’s Ram Shinde.

rohit pawar
Sharad Pawar with his grandnephew and MLA Rohit Pawar and MP Supriya Sule at party headquarters, January 24, 2024. File Photo/PTI

Jayant Patil’s nephew and former Maharashtra minister Prajakt Tanpure is contesting from the Rahuri seat.

Senior NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal is up against his former friend, Manikrao Shinde of the NCP (SP), from the Yeola Assembly constituency. The NCP heavyweight’s nephew and former MP Sameer Bhujbal is fighting from Nandgaon as an independent.

In the Nanded South Assembly seat, Congress’ Mohanrao Hambarde is trying to retain his seat. His brother Santukrao Hambarde is the BJP candidate contesting the Nanded Lok Sabha bypoll necessitated due to the death of sitting Congress MP Vasantrao Chavan.

Ganesh Naik is contesting on a BJP ticket from the Airoli seat in Navi Mumbai. He is facing Shiv Sena UBT candidate MK Madhavi.

Naik’s younger son, Sandeep, is contesting from the Belapur Assembly constituency on the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) ticket against the BJP’s Manda Mhatre.

BJP’s Vijaykumar Gavit is fighting against Congress’ Kiran Tadvi from the Nandurbar seat. His daughter and former MP Heena Gavit is an independent candidate from the Akkalkuwa constituency. She is being challenged by the Congress’ sitting MLA KC Padvi and the Shiv Sena’s Aamshya Padvi.

Vijaykumar’s brother Rajendra Gavit is the Congress candidate from Shahada, pitted against sitting BJP MLA Rajesh Padvi. His other brother, Sharad, is in the fray as an Independent from Nawapur. He is taking on Congress MLA Shirish Naik and the NCP’s Bharat Gavit.

BJP MP Narayan Rane’s sons Nitesh Rane and Nilesh Rane are fighting from Kudal and Kankavli constituencies on Shiv Sena and BJP tickets, respectively.

Congress’ Amit Deshmukh and Dhiraj Deshmukh, sons of former Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh, are in the fray from Latur City and Latur Rural, respectively.

With input from agencies





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