Jalgaon: Elections for the posts of chairman and corporator in 18 municipal and nagar panchayats in Jalgaon district are being scheduled on Tuesday, December 2, and although 1555 candidates are in the fray for 464 seats, the real fight will be between the BJP and Shiv Sena.
Elections for 16 municipalities and 2 nagar panchayats in Jalgaon district are being held on December 2, and the campaign for the ongoing elections has reached its peak. For this election, 1555 candidates are in the fray for 464 seats.
Although there is a direct fight for the post of chairman in the district, four seats have become very prestigious. As Sadhana Mahajan, wife of Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan, is the only candidate for the post of Jamner chairman, this seat has gone unopposed.
The entire district is eyeing the chairman post race in Pachora, where there is a direct fight between MLA Kishor Patil of Shiv Sena Shindegat and former MLA Dilip Wagh’s wife, Sucheta Dilip Wagh of BJP. In Chalisgaon, BJP MLA Mangesh Chavan’s wife, Pratibha Chavan, is contesting, while Padmaja Deshmukh is contesting against her.
They are fighting a very aggressive campaign and accusations here. Rajni Sanjay Savkare, wife of Textile Minister Sanjay Savkare, is standing from BJP in Bhusawal, and the City Development Alliance has fielded a candidate against him. There is an alliance between the BJP and Congress in Chopda and there is a fight between the Shiv Sena and NCP.
While Muktai Nagar is dominated by Eknath Khadse, the Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Pawar group has not fielded a candidate there. Bhadgaon has a three-way fight between NCP, the BJP, and Shiv Sena. Congress, which does not have a presence in the district, has not fielded its candidate for the post of chairman anywhere. There are direct fights for the post of chairman in nine places in the district: Amalner, Chopda, Muktai Nagar, Pachora, Faizpur, Nashirabad, Bhadgaon, Varangaon, and Savda.
Although there are alliances to field candidates in the district, the Congress Ubatha, which does not have strength in the district, has not received candidates to contest the elections in many places. For 464 seats, BJP has fielded 290 candidates, Shiv Sena 216, NCP 105, NCP (Sharad Pawar group) 81, the Shiv Sena Thackeray group 66 and Congress 75 candidates.
For the post of chairman, the BJP has fielded the maximum 15 candidates, while NCP’s Shinde group has 8, Ajit Pawar group 7, Sharad Pawar group 2, Congress 2 Thackeray group 4. NCP’s Muktai Nagar leader Eknath Khadse said that the NCP did not field candidates for Muktai Nagar because the NCP and Sharad Pawar group did not have the strength.
The real fight to maintain dominance in the district is between the BJP and the Shinde faction. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis held rallies in Bhusawal, while Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde held rallies in Pachora, Bhadgaon, and Muktainagar. Pankaja Mundhe held rallies in Muktainagar and Manikrao Kokate held rallies in Nashirabad.
