This year, the state polls will see quite a few young guns battling it out on October 21.
Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, the centre of gravity is shifting towards the young and dynamic leaders of tomorrow. This year, the state polls will see quite a few young guns battling it out on October 21. A major battle will play out in the Worli assembly segment, where Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray is making his debut in electoral politics. From Beed, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran late Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja Munde will lock horns for supremacy against Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) Dhanajay Munde. Sujay Vikhe Patil, son of Congress legislative party leader Radha Krishna Vikhe Patil, will contest on a BJP ticket from Ahmednagar. Let's take a look at their work so far:
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Aaditya Thackeray
The 29-year-old grandson of Shiv Sena founder, the late Bal Thackeray, Aaditya Thackeray is the first member from the Thackeray family to enter the electoral fray after Shalini Thackeray, the wife of Jeetendra Thackeray, a cousin of MNS founder Raj Thackeray. Aaditya, a BA and LIB, is the son of Uddhav and Rashmi Thackeray and also the Yuva Sena chief. Ahead of polls, the party also launched the ‘Aaditya Samwad’ programme in August, where Sena leader Aaditya interacted with the youth of the state and answered their questions. The Sena cub, who actively participates in conversations on social media has spoken on a range of issues, including Aarey and the CSMT bridge collapse that killed over six people earlier this year. Hitting out at the Mumbai Metro authorities for felling trees in Aarey Colony, Aaditya came out in support of environmental activists who were detained or arrested for protesting against the felling of over 2,000 trees. “It would be a shame if we do that. I call out and request the Chief Minister to look into this and ask the police to not put any cases for people with love for the environment. We would be hypocritical then at the United Nations if we do this,” he had said. At the same time, he also received backlash, as his own party rules the BMC and ordered the felling of trees. During the bridge collapse, Aaditya had posted tweets promising action against those responsible, only to receive scathing replies that the Sena could not shrug off responsibility as the ruling party in BMC.
Pankaja Munde
BJP leader Pankaja Munde, a minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led state Cabinet, defeated her cousin and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde by a margin of 25,000 votes in the 2014 polls from Parli, a rural pocket located about 470 km from Mumbai. The BJP is aiming to retain the seat this time by highlighting the developmental works carried in the area, including fast-tracking of the rail route network. The saffron party is confident that people from the segment will vote for Pankaja Munde, who is the minister for rural development and women and child welfare, and also Beed's guardian minister. When Gopinath Munde passed away in a car accident in June 2014, Pankaja performed the last rites. There was spontaneous applause from the public, in what was received as a progressive step from a patriarchal mindset, especially in a district such as Beed. Before the 2014 Maharashtra assembly election, she led a two-week 'Punha Sangharsh Yatra', which received an overwhelming response.
Sujay Vikhe Patil
Ahmednagar is the stronghold of the Vikhe-Patil clan where the Congress has held sway virtually uninterrupted since 1952. The constituency hogged limelight last month when Sujay Vikhe Patil, a medico and son of Congressman and Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, suddenly quit the Congress and joined the BJP. His grouse was that the NCP did not give up the Ahmednagar seat which has been the bastion of one of the oldest political clans in the state. The BJP promptly rewarded Sujay Vikhe-Patil with a ticket and now he is pitted against NCP's Sangram Jagtap. Upset over the subsequent developments, even Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil could create a major upset for the Congress-NCP alliance. The constituency has 16,99,408 voters, including 8,98,819 men and 8,00,589 women.
The Deshmukh brothers
In its second list, Congress included Dhiraj Deshmukh, youngest son of former chief minister, the late Vilasrao Deshmukh, who will make his electoral debut from the Latur Rural constituency. Two time MLA Amit is looking to defend his Latur City seat. Under the guidance of his father, Amit started his political career by working from the grassroots. He started his political career with the Maharashtra Youth Congress at the age of 21. In Latur Rural, Dhiraj will compete with relative newbie Sachin Deshmukh from the Shiv Sena. Locals say that the farming community that dominates the area will hand a win for Dhiraj.
Praniti Shinde
One of the youngest women members in the Legislative Assembly, Congress MLA Praniti Shinde - daughter of former Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde - will contest from Solapur. With her schooling from Bombay Scottish and graduation in BA from St Xavier's College, Praniti has also done her LLB from Government Law College. The former chief minister is pulling out all stops to transfer his loyal vote base, while the MLA tells people about her past work and flaunts her connect with the city's multi-lingual population cutting across class and communities.
(With inputs from agencies)
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