More than 8 thousand people had filed nominations for the assembly elections to be held in one phase in Maharashtra, in which the nomination papers of 7,994 candidates were found to be correct after scrutiny. Voting is to be held here on 20th November. There are chances of very interesting contests on many seats in the elections. At some places big faces and at other places special political parties are at stake. Whereas on some seats the contest has become interesting because more than one candidate with the same name is trying his luck in the field. In such a situation, the question arises whether the fielding of similar candidates is a mere coincidence or a part of some strategy?
With the announcement of assembly elections, all the political parties started their respective election campaigns. But due to many candidates with the same name contesting on many seats, there may be confusion among the voters.
3 women Ashwini candidates on Parvati seat
The main contest on Parvati Assembly seat in Pune district is between Madhuri Misal of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Ashwini Kadam of Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar). However, there are three candidates named Ashwini in the fray in which two women named Ashwini Kadam have also staked claim. Ashwini Khairnar and Ashwini Kadam are in the fray as independent candidates, while Ashwini Kadam is challenging on behalf of NCP (Sharad Pawar).
Similarly, in Muktai Nagar seat of Jalgaon district, more than one candidate with the same name is in the fray. Here, Chandrakant Patil, who is contesting from Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, is contesting against Rohini Eknath Khadse of NCP (Sharad Pawar). Apart from these, two women candidates are contesting the elections as independents. Their names are Rohini Pandit Khadse and Rohini Gokul Khadse. These two women are not even local. One belongs to Washim district and the other comes from Akola.
4 candidates named Rohit Patil
Apart from 3 candidates named Rohini, 2 independent candidates named Chandrakant Patil are also trying their luck from here. Apart from Chandrakant Nimba Patil from Shiv Sena (Shinde), two other Chandrakant Patil are contesting as independent candidates. A total of 43 people filled the forms for this seat, out of which the applications of 36 were found correct. In such a situation, during the voting to be held on November 20, voters will have to cast their vote carefully.
A similar case is related to Sangli district. The main contest in Tasgaon-Kavathe Mahankal Assembly is between two factions of NCP. It is between Sanjay Kaka Patil of NCP (Ajit Pawar) and Rohit Patil of Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party. But here a total of 3 different candidates named Rohit Patil have also filed independent nominations. Rohit Raosaheb Patil, Rohit Rajgonda Patil and Rohit Rajendra Patil are in the fray.
Apart from this, an independent named Sanjay Patil has also filed his nomination. So, a unique contest is being seen on this seat between 4 Rohit Patil and 2 Sanjay Patil, but the real challenge here is for the voters not to get confused about the name and vote for their favorite candidate.
Tough competition on Islampur seat also
In Sangli’s Islampur seat, Jayant Patil of NCP (Sharad Pawar) is contesting against Nishikant Patil of NCP (Ajit Pawar). The full name of Sharad Pawar’s candidate Jayant is Jayant Rajaram Patil. The special thing is that the full name of the two independent candidates here is also the same, Jayant Rajaram Patil and the name of the other is Jayant Ramchandra Patil. Both are contesting the elections as independents. Nishikant Prakash Patil is in the fray on behalf of Ajit Pawar, while two other candidates with similar names, Nishikant Prahlad Patil and Nishikant, have contested as independents.
Many candidates with similar names are in the fray for Indapur Assembly seat in Pune district. Harshvardhan Patil is contesting from Sharad Pawar’s NCP against Dattatray Bharne of NCP (Ajit Pawar). Here, two persons named Harshvardhan Patil and one other person named Dattatraya Bharne have filed their nominations. In this way, 3 people by the name of Harshvardhan Patil and 2 by the name of Dattatreya Bharne are in the fray for Indapur seat.
Total 6 ‘Kadam’ candidates on Dapoli seat
There is a contest between a total of 6 Kadams (3 Yogesh Kadam and 3 Sanjay Kadam) on Dapoli assembly seat of Ratnagiri district. Yogesh Kadam is contesting from Shiv Sena (Shinde) and Sanjay Kadam from Uddhav Thackeray group. Apart from these, Yogesh Kadam and Sanjay Kadam, as two independent candidates, are trying to spoil the equation of political parties.
There is a contest between namesakes on the Koregaon assembly seat in the famous Satara district of Maharashtra. There is a tough contest between Mahesh Shinde of Shiv Sena (Shinde) and Shashikant Shinde of NCP (Sharad Pawar). On this seat, three different candidates named Shashikant Shinde have made the contest interesting by filing independent nominations. An independent candidate has filed the nomination in the name of Shashikant Shinde. A total of 4 Mahesh Shinde and 2 Shashikant Shinde are in the fray from Koregaon seat. There is a lot of confusion here regarding the name Mahesh. Mahesh Madhav Shinde (Independent), Mahesh Sambhajiraje Shinde (Shiv Sena), Mahesh Sambhaji Shinde and Mahesh Sakharam Shinde, along with Mahesh Madhav Kamble are also presenting their challenge.
3 Rohits in Pawar’s stronghold too
There is a heavyweight contest on Karjat-Jamkhed seat of Ahmednagar district. BJP has fielded former minister Ram Shinde here, while Rohit Pawar is in the fray from NCP (Sharad Pawar). Rohit belongs to the influential Sharad Pawar family. Here 2 others Ram Shinde and 2 Rohit Pawar are also in the fray as independent candidates. In such a situation, 3 candidates by the name of Rohit Pawar and 3 by the name of Ram Shinde are trying their luck in the field.
However, the nomination process is still going on in Maharashtra. The names are to be withdrawn by November 4, so if these candidates do not withdraw their names then the contest here will be very tough. A large number of similar candidates on about half a dozen seats, including the Karjat-Jamkhed seat, can bring about a change in the political equation here. It will be known on November 23 whether the presence of candidates with similar names was just a coincidence or a political ploy to foil someone’s political plan.