Two rebels set up tough contest for Nashik graduate seat polls

NASHIK: The rebellion by the two politicians in the run-up to the Nashik division graduates’ constituency MLC election has made it an close contest.
Although there are 16 candidates in fray, the key contest is likely between the two young politicians of the region — Satyajeet Tambe and Shubhangi Patil. Both are in their 30s and are contesting as independents.

While Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is formally backing Patil, BJP leadership, despite speculations, is yet to back Satyajeet in the polls. BJP sources said the state leadership has left it to the local units to take a call on whether to back Satyajeet Tambe or not.
Over 2.6 lakh voters from the five districts of Ahmednagar, Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon and Nandurbar will cast their votes to elect the new MLC on January 30. The highest number of voters is in Ahmednagar, the home turf of Tambes. The bulk of the voters are teachers, who have enrolled for this election. The counting of votes would be February 2.
Satyajeet said it will be a historic win for him in the polls since the mood of the voters is in his favour. Shubhangi too exuded confidence of winning with MVA’s backing.
Tambe loyalists said there are a few advantages that Satyajeet has over Shubhangi in the election. Satyajeet’s father and the sitting MLC of the constituency, Dr Sudhir Tambe, has won the seat thrice in a row, which has enabled the Tambes’ to develop a rapport with a sizeable section of the voters.
“Dr Tambe’s close bond with the voters in the five districts will be a big advantage for his son in the election. He has been nurturing his constituency assiduously by solving issues of the voters as the MLC,” claimed a Tambe loyalist, Suresh Salunke, who was recently suspended as the Ahmednagar district Congress chief for backing Satyajeet in the election.
Although Dr Tambe opted out of the contest despite being given the ticket by the party, he has been campaigning extensively in all the five districts to garner support for his son.
Moreover, added Tambe loyalists, since the Tambe family has been in politics for a long time, they have created their own band of supporters who have been campaigning for Satyajeet in each of the five districts.
However, the MVA leaders of the region maintained that it would be tough for Satyajeet to win the election despite his father’s winning streak for the last 15 years.
“The fact that Dr Tambe despite getting the ticket from Congress did not file his nomination has not gone down well with a sizeable section of the voters. This will be the crucial factor that could pave way for Shubhangi’s victory,” said the Ahmednagar NCP president, Rajendra Phalke, adding that the state MVA leadership has instructed all its local units to work in tandem for Shubhangi’s victory.