Now, MES lets Maharashtra netas select its candidates

Belagavi: All the factions of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti(MES) have re-united under the guidance of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. It is now said that Pawar himself will be finalizing the MES candidates for this assembly elections.
The two previous assembly elections have clearly indicated that Marathi linguists are shifting their support to the two national parties. With MES splitting into three factions due to difference of opinion among its leaders, the party won in only two Marathi dominant assembly seats - Kanapur and Belagavi in the 2013 election. The party

Sharad Pawar, who has supported the party for several years managed to unite all the MES factions and the party has now decided to contest from six seats - Belagavi South, North, Rural, Khanapur, Nippani and Bidar. It has also started conducting taluk-level meetings from Thursday. The party headquarters will start receiving applications from ticket aspirants from Sunday. Later, the candidates would be finalized by Sharad Pawar, former Maharashtra home Minister Jayant Patil and ND Patil. It is the first time in MES history that leaders from Maharashtra are selecting its candidates. It is said that this is being done only to prevent rebellion and disappointment in the group.

According to sources, present MLA Sambhaji Patil, former mayors Sarita Patil and Kiran Saynak, councilors Pandhari Parab, Prakash Maragale and Manohar Hosurkar are interested to contest from Belagavi South. The aspirants in Belagavi North are Amar Yellurkar and Renu Mutagekar. In rural constituency, former MLA Manohar Kinekar and ZP member Saraswati Patil are in race for a ticket. In Khanapur, present MLA Aravind Patil, Vilas Belgavkar, Muralidhar Patil and Narayan Kapolkar would be submitting applications for a ticket.

Madhyavarti Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti president Deepak Dalavi said, “The candidates will be finalised with the co-operation all leaders and will be a choice of Marathi linguists. We are confident of winning more seats in this election.”