A vendor shows a t-shirt printed with BJP's election symbol at a shop, ahead of Maharashtra Assembly elections, in Nagpur.
Credit: PTI Photo
Ratnagiri/Sindhudurg: A fierce eyeball-to-eyeball clash is being witnessed in the seven seats of picturesque South Konkan’s twin districts of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg along the Arabian Sea.
The contests involve the Rane-brothers -- Nilesh and Nitesh and Samant-brothers Uday and Kiran -- who are dominant players in the region.
Traditionally, the region was known for the money-order economy as a large number of people from the coastal belt work in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and once the bastion of the Balasaheb Thackeray-founded undivided Shiv Sena.
The Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat is represented by BJP’s Narayan Rane, a former Maharashtra Chief Minister and ex-Leader of the Opposition.
While six of these seats -- Chiplun, Ratnagiri, Rajapur, Kankavli, Kudal and Sawantwadi fall under the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat -- the Guhagar seat comes under the Raigad Lok Sabha seat, which is now represented by Sunil Tatkare, the state NCP President.
In the twin districts, known for mangoes, cashew, fish, beaches, greenery, a lot is at stake for Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief leader Eknath Shinde and Narayan Rane, who started from Shiv Sena and moved to Congress to finally settle in BJP. The two Rane brothers Nilesh and Nitesh are contesting the Kudal and Kankavli seats, respectively.
The younger brother Nitesh, a two-time sitting MLA, once from the Congress and now from the BJP, is facing Sandesh Parkar of the Shiv Sena (UBT).
The older brother Nilesh, who is a former Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg MP when the Rane family was with the Congress, too was keen to contest. However, Shinde refused to part with the Kankavli seat to the BJP and Nilesh joined the Shiv Sena and is facing Vaibhav Naik of Shiv Sena (UBT).
In Sawantwadi, state Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar is seeking re-election and is pitting against Rajan Teli, who recently left the BJP to join the Shiv Sena (UBT). Kesarkar is a three-time MLA having won earlier for undivided Sharad Pawar-led NCP and undivided Shiv Sena.
In Ratnagiri, close Shinde aide Uday Samant is seeking re-election and is pitted against Bal Mane of Shiv Sena (UBT). Samant is a four-time MLA - twice each from undivided NCP and undivided Shiv Sena.
His brother Kiran Samant is contesting the Rajapur seat for Shiv Sena against Thackeray family aide and senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Rajan Salvi.
In Guhagar, six-time MLA Bhaskar Jadhav of Shiv Sena (UBT) is facing Rajesh Bendal of Shiv Sena. Incidentally, Jadhav had once been the state President of undivided NCP. In Chiplun, the fight is between Prashant Yadav of NCP (SP) and Shekhar Nikam of NCP.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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