Pune: It was expected that the assembly polls in the state would take place around mid-October but now the Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to hold polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand after Diwali. Sensing that polls would not be held perhaps till November-end, various political parties in the state have now halted their seat-sharing discussions, creating confusion among the aspirants.
As a result in many parts of the state, aspiring candidates have now begun their own preparations and may be ready to contest as independents or rebel candidates defying their party or alliance.
As top leaders of various parties are aware of how deciding the final candidate list too much in advance would give enough time and scope for the rebels to prepare for their own campaign, they have now halted the seat-sharing discussion itself. Leaders are now using their spare time for conventions and meetings with grassroot workers of the party to find out what is the political ground situation in various regions.
In Pune district rural areas, it is obvious that there is a cold war between Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and BJP leader and former minister Harshavardhan Patil, who crossed over from Congress to the BJP some years ago. Now Patil seems uncertain about whether he will be given candidature as the NCP wants to continue with sitting MLA Dattatray Bharane who is Ajit Pawar's supporter. Harshavardhan now has started preparations and told his supporters that he is going to contest in any case whether he gets a BJP ticket or not.
In Pune city's Kothrud, the BJP fielded former party state president Chandrakant Patil and won the polls by a comfortable margin, but now in 2024.
A similar situation is seen inside the Congress party. There is displeasure in the party over "an outsider" Ravindra Dhangekar was given first the candidature in Kasba Peth assembly bypolls and then Lok Sabha candidature too. Many including former city party chief Aba Bagul are now telling their supporters that he will now contest the assembly in one of the city constituencies.
In Konkan's Dapoli constituency, Shiv Sena candidate Yogesh Kadam won the last assembly polls with a margin of over 13,000 votes. But this time the BJP, under an aggressive cabinet minister Ravindra Chavan is eyeing the constituency for one of its local leaders. Yogesh Kadam's father Ramdas Kadam is now telling his voters that Yogesh will contest in any case either as a Mahayuti candidate or as an independent.
Similar is the situation in many constituencies in the Marathwada region and North Maharashtra too. The sudden rise in the number of aspirants because of the split into two big regional parties may result in too many of them rebelling against their alliances. This may ultimately make the election uncertain with too many contestants and the votes getting fragmented.
