Infighting spurs Sharad Pawar's hint to contest polls: Leaders

KOLHAPUR: Sharad Pawar's latest statement that he would think over contesting from the Madha Lok Sabha constituency is being largely perceived by NCP leaders as compulsion of local politics.

Madha, which is an NCP bastion, has at least four strong contenders but all of them are seen as rivals in Solapur district.

Sitting LS member Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil has sought candidature but party leaders suspect his loyalty as he is always described as a possible BJP candidate in case NCP denies him ticket. He has never categorically denied speculation about him.

The NCP has three other strong aspirants - Satara Zilla Parishad president Sanjivraje Naik-Nimbalkar, retired bureaucrat Prabhakar Deshmukh and party's Solapur district president Deepak Salunkhe.

While Sharad Pawar had won the Madha seat in 2009 with more than three lakh votes, Mohite-Patil's victory margin was only 25,000 votes in 2014. The drastic reduction in the vote margin has been mainly attributed to differences in the party.

Sources in the NCP said the party is not confident about retaining the seat if Mohite-Patil is given the ticket and also fears that he will join BJP if denied ticket, thus harming the chances of the NCP candidate.

Madha constituency has two assembly segments from neighboring Satara district, where sitting Lok Sabha member from Satara Udayanraje Bhosale has a lot of clout.

Sources in the NCP said that Pawar's candidature would make the two seats safe as rivalry is unlikely to surface. Besides, some leaders believe that Pawar's candidature would also motivate party workers.

Interestingly, the farmers' outfit Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) is also staking claim to the Madha seat.