Massajog Sarpanch polls today

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Voting for the Massajog village sarpanch bypoll will be held on Tuesday (April 28), with campaigning coming to an end on Monday. The election has been necessitated following the abduction and murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, which left the post vacant.His widow, Ashwini Deshmukh, is in the fray and is locked in a direct contest with Swarupanand Deshmukh, who had lost the previous election to Santosh Deshmukh by just nine votes.The campaign witnessed emotional scenes as the late sarpanch's daughter, Vaibhavi Deshmukh, and son, Viraj Deshmukh, canvassed for their mother, urging villagers to support her.The family had hoped for an uncontested election, but the contest became inevitable after Swarupanand Deshmukh stayed in the race despite three candidates withdrawing their nominations on the final day.Polling will take place on Tuesday, while counting and results are scheduled for Wednesday. Beed superintendent of police Navneet Kanwat said adequate security arrangements have been made to ensure smooth and peaceful polling.