Vidarbha Emerges As Key Battleground In Maha MLC Polls

Nagpur: Vidarbha has emerged as a key battleground for the upcoming Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, with BJP-led Mahayuti and opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) facing off across several local authorities' constituencies amid signs of rebellion, concerns over cross-voting and intense mobilisation of elected representatives.The nomination process on Monday saw both alliances stage parallel shows of strength in Nagpur, Amravati, Chandrapur, Yavatmal, Wardha, Bhandara and Gondia.The Nagpur Legislative Council by-election will witness a straight fight between BJP candidate Dr Rajiv Potdar and Congress nominee Atul Londhe. The contest is being closely watched in Nagpur, a BJP bastion which houses headquarters of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. While Mahayuti functionaries expressed confidence of a comfortable victory, Congress claimed that discontent among representatives could influence the outcome. The faction led by Congress' former city chief and West Nagpur MLA Vikas Thakre was conspicuously absent while filling up of Londhe's nomination form.Political observers view the bypoll as an indicator of emerging alignments ahead of municipal elections in the region.In Amravati, former MLC Viplav Bajoria filed his nomination as an independent candidate, fuelling speculation of discontent within the Mahayuti camp. BJP has fielded former minister Pravin Pote Patil, while the MVA has nominated Congress' Harshdeep Deshmukh. Bahujan Vikas Aghadi has fielded Nilesh Vishwakarma, while independent Prashant Mahalle also entered the fray.Bajoria was reportedly expecting a renomination from the alliance. Bajoria said he decided to contest after receiving requests from local elected representatives. Absence of MLA Ravi Rana and former MP Navneet Rana during Pote Patil's nomination filing has fuelled speculations.In Chandrapur, both alliances mobilised supporters during the nomination filing of BJP candidate Arun Lakhani and MVA nominee Shailesh Agrawal for the Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli constituency MLC polls.The MVA event was attended by MP Pratibha Dhanorkar, Congress legislature party leader Vijay Wadettiwar and former minister Ranjit Kamble, among others. The BJP's show of strength featured minister of state Pankaj Bhoyar, guardian minister Ashok Uike and former Union minister Hansraj Ahir.In Yavatmal, Congress candidate Sahebrao Dattatray Kamble filed nomination papers as the MVA nominee, while Dushyant Chaturvedi entered the race for Shiv Sena, a Mahayuti constituent. BJP functionary Nitin Bhutada filed papers as an independent, though party sources indicated a decision on his candidature could depend on the alliance's final strategy.BIENNIAL ELECTION------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Constituency | Mahayuti | MVA------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli | Arun Lakhani (BJP) | Shailesh Agrawal (Congress)Bhandara-Gondia | Avinash Brahmankar (BJP) | Dilip Waman Bansod (Congress)Yavatmal | Dushyant Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena) | Sahebrao Dattatray Kamble (Congress)Amravati | Pravin Pote Patil (BJP) | Harshdeep Deshmukh (Congress)------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BY-ELECTION------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Constituency | Mahayuti | MVA------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nagpur | Dr Rajiv Potdar (BJP) | Atul Londhe (Congress)------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Independents in Bhandara-Gondia: Praful Agrawal, Naresh Ishwarkar