As many as 24 candidates will try to woo 18.12 lakh voters in the Amravati (SC) Lok Sabha constituency in the second phase of elections in the State on April 18. Extensive micro planning and star power are at play among the two prominent contestants — the 71-year old two-time winner and sitting Shiv Sena MP Anandrao Adsul, and the 34-year-old actor and Independent candidate Navneet Rana. However, the presence of 20 Buddhist candidates is likely to divide the votes in favour of the saffron party, according to political observers.

Labelled as an outsider, Mr. Adsul who hails from Satara, and lives in Mumbai, is confident of winning. “People who vote for me have never called me an outsider. It is my opponents who say this. Why would people vote for me if they don’t have a connect?” asks the Sena leader. He says party workers are canvassing aggressively in the interiors as well and have been assigned the task of convincing people to cast their votes. “While we have six youths for one polling booth, and BJP has 10 per polling booth. These youngsters reached out to villagers every day,” he says.

Master of strategy

Sanjay Shende, a senior journalist from Amravati who has followed political developments for the past 22 years, calls Mr. Adsul a strategist. “He gets his core team from Mumbai for campaigning. This team has good experience from his three terms in Buldhana as well as two terms in Amravati”, says Mr. Shende adding that in comparison Ms. Rana is fairly new and inexperienced. “Ms. Rana has reached out to the core voters in the district including areas like Melghat. Being an actor, her face is well known too. She is the strongest contestant against Mr. Adsul,” he says.

In 2014, Mr. Adsul got 4.6 lakh votes while Ms. Rana secured 3.2 lakh votes on an NCP ticket.

Ms. Rana is definitely a popular face with a strong presence on social media as well. She is flocked by people for selfies everywhere she goes.

Ms. Rana feels that the provision of candidate’s picture on the EVM machines will work in her favour on polling day. But political analysts remain doubtful.

Core issues

Underdevelopment continues to plague Amravati. Expansion of the airport, pending for over a decade, and an underdeveloped Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) have restricted job opportunities in the region.

Suicides by farmers and malnutrition deaths in the tribal pocket of Melghat continue to be the core issues. But there is blatant ignorance of these issues when people choose their leaders. “The caste factor plays a major role in the polls here. As many as 20 of the 24 candidates are Buddhists. The division of Buddhist votes will benefit Shiv Sena,” says Mr. Shende.

Gunwant Deopare, candidate of the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi, says the current MP lacks vision as well as a passion for development of the district. “I think the people have had enough and will choose better,” says Mr. Deopare, who contested in 2014 on a BSP ticket and secured 98,200 votes.