Key Contests: Laxmanrao Patil vs Hindurao Nimbalkar

SATARA: MAHARASHTRA

The Satara Lok Sabha constituency in western Maharashtra, is likely to witness a close political battle between the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate Laxmanrao Patil and the Shiv Sena candidate Hindurao Nimbalkar, thanks to an independent candidate, Chimanrao Kadam being in the fray.

Had it been a straight fight between the NCP and the Shiv Sena, the latter would have won on the back of a strong anti-incumbency wave against the Democratic Front government, in addition to the intense drought in the region that makes water the foremost political issue.

A large number of people have migrated from the region and voting is not expected to cross the 40 per cent mark, which ironically may benefit the NCP's poll prospects.

"Even in recent elections to the local self bodies of the district, the NCP has fared badly and could not win a single Zilla Parishad or Panchayat Samiti seat in the Satara taluka," said Gajanan Patil, a Shiv Sena activist in the region.

However, the Congress party leadership, an alliance partner of the NCP, has convinced Chimanrao Kadam, who failed to secure a ticket from the Shiv Sena, to contest as an independent candidate from here.

Kadam is expected to register over 50,000 votes in his favour that otherwise would have bolstered the Shiv Sena candidate's vote share.

Much like the western Maharashtra regions of Kolhapur, Ichalkaranji and Karad, Satara too is steeped in pocketburough politics, where individual pockets exist with the majority coming together during elections to ensure the victory of one political party.