The Nashik division comprising four districts is all set to witness a multi-cornered fight among the five major parties for the October 15 Maharashtra Assembly polls.
The division in north Maharashtra comprises Nashik, Jalgaon, Nandurbar and Dhule districts, which account for 35 of the 288 seats in the State Assembly.
Maximum seats in the division is currently held by the NCP (nine), followed by Shiv Sena (seven), Congress (six), BJP (four), MNS (three) and others six.
In Muktainagar, Jalgaon district State BJP heavyweight Eknath Khadse, the sitting MLA, is seeking re-election.
The Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Assembly, seen as one of the contenders for the Chief Minister's post, is facing challenge from NCP's Arun Patil, Chandrakant Patil of Shiv Sena and Yogendra Patil of Congress.
The Jalgaon city and rural seats, on the other hand has senior leaders, Shiv Sena candidate Sureshdada Jain (Jalgaon city) and NCP's Gulabrao Devkar (Jalgaon Rural) are contesting the polls from jail. Jain and Devkar, both former Ministers, are in jail in connection with a multi-crore housing scam in Jalgaon.
Meanwhile, Raj Thackeray-led MNS is fighting to retain three constituencies - Nashik Central, Nashik East and Nashik West, which it won last time.
In drought-prone Assembly constituency of Nandgaon in Nashik district, a total of 15 candidates are in the fray.
Sitting NCP MLA Pankaj Bhujbal, son of former Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, is seeking a second term from Nandgaon, where the party's former ally Congress has fielded Anilkumar Gangadhar Aher.
MNS has chosen Jayant Shivaji Sanap, while BJP has put its faith in former Jansurajya Party chief Advay Prashant Hiray, who joined the party recently. Suhas Kande is contesting on a Shiv Sena ticket and Suraj Gaikwad is the candidate of the Bahujan Samajwadi Party in Nandgaon.
In 2009, Pankaj defeated his nearest rival, Sena candidate Sanjay Sayaji Pawar, by over 22,000 votes.
