Nationalist Congress Party candidate Suman Patil, widow of former home minister R R Patil, would face ten other candidates, who are all independents, in the April 11 Assembly bypoll for Sangli’s Tasgaon-Kavthe Mahankal seat.
The bypoll has been necessitated after the death of R R Patil, last month.
BJP’s Swapnil Patil is in the fray as an independent.
No other political party has fielded candidates in Tasgaon, as a mark of respect for Patil, who had cordial relations across the political spectrum.
For the Bandra East bypoll, candidates including former chief minister Narayan Rane are in the fray. The bypoll for Bandra East will be held on April 11.
It was necessitated after the death of Shiv Sena’s Prakash (Bala) Sawant and is being seen as a “make or break” contest for Rane, who had suffered a shocking defeat in his pocket borough of Sindhudurg at the hands of the Shiv Sena in the October 15 Assembly polls last year.
The contest is being seen as a prestige battle between Rane and the Shiv Sena.
Incidentally, Matoshree, the Thackeray residence, is located in the Bandra East constituency.
The Sena has fielded Bala Sawant’s wife Trupti from the Bandra East constituency, while the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has fielded (Raja) Rehbar Khan.
The AIMIM had also contested the October poll and polled over 19,000 votes, finishing third.
The BJP has not fielded a candidate in Sena’s support. Neither NCP nor MNS are contesting the Bandra East bypoll.
