The bye-election was necessitated after Udayanraje Bhosle resigned as an MP within months of winning the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as an NCP candidate. Bhosle, a descendant of Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, had joined the BJP. Pawar had then gone all out against him, saying Bhosle’s resignation within months of winning the polls was an insult to the people who voted for him. Pawar’s strong words against Bhosle, in pouring rain, were not only attributed to Bhosle’s defeat in the by-poll but also to NCP’s comparatively good showing in the assembly polls in spite of large-scale defections.
Bhosle is again contesting the polls and Pawar has again taken a keen interest in doing an encore. Pawar had first sought out former Congress chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to contest the seat as he is the MLA of Karad South, one of the six assembly segments of the constituency. But the arrangement did not work out as NCP-SP wanted Chavan to contest on the NCP symbol, which Chavan was not keen on. Pawar had then sounded out Shriniwas Patil, who defeated Bhosle in the 2019 by-poll. But Patil refused due to his frail health. The ticket has now been given to former NCP MLA Shashikant Shinde.
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Shinde is a Mathadi union leader and a former MLA from the Koregaon assembly seat. Koregan assembly seat falls under the Satara Lok Sabha constituency. While the Mathadi kamgar leaders are based in Navi Mumbai, their families live in Satara. The NCP-SP believes this would come in handy during the elections.
The Satara seat had been a bastion of the Congress till 1998 but became an NCP stronghold in 1999. Despite a Modi wave, the party managed to retain the seat with Udayanraje Bhosle winning in 2009, 2014 and 2019.
In the constituency, locals talk of lack of jobs. Youngsters from Satara have to work and live in neighbouring districts for jobs. “We can’t rely on government jobs, forget new companies here, several companies in MIDC in Satara have shut, and one has to migrate to other districts in search of jobs. We need more companies to set up shop in Satara,” said Akash Jadhav from Patan.
Bhosle has his own fan base among the youth. The former MP is known for flipping his collar, a kin to south Indian film heroes.
While Shinde was initially considered a weaker candidate, his campaign has gathered steam of late, sending jitters in the Bhosle camp.
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