Saoner: Congress may benefit in absence of BJP candidate


* Congress’ incumbent MLA Sunil Kedar is seeking fourth term and his path is much clearer as BJP candidate Sonba Musale’s nomination got rejected
By Kartik Lokhande 
Though it was expected to be a tough contest betweeen three-time MLA Sunil Kedar of Congress, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Sonba Musale, it appears that the former is in comfortable position owing to the rejection of the latter’s nomination. Saoner is the only constituency this Assembly election, where BJP has got no candidate.
Traditionally, Saoner is known for repeating winning candidate. Since 1962, the constituency saw Congress’ Narendra Tidke getting elected for three consecutive terms. In 1978 and 1980, the constituency favoured Ramji Naik of Congress-I. In 1985 and 1990, Congress’ bigwig Ranjit Deshmukh got the mandate. Since 1985, Saoner has been witnessing a contest between Congress and BJP.
The incumbent MLA Sunil Kedar first contested the election for the first time from Saoner in 1995. Kedar then contested as an Independent and got elected in the very first shot, by defeating a stalwart like Ranjit Deshmukh with a thumping margin of 21,393 votes. This catapulted Kedar to the position of a strong political leader who could fight on his own and win. In 1999, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) contested separately and Kedar decided to contest as NCP candidate, while Congress has fielded Shantaram Gawande. Massive division of votes took place between Congress and NCP, and BJP tasted its first success in Deorao Asole.
However, in 2004, situation changed again. In Congress-NCP alliance, Saoner went to the quota of Congress, which fielded Chandansingh Rotele. Left with no option, Kedar contested as an Independent and got elected again. He avenged his defeat in 1999, by scoring over Deorao Asole in 2004. Congress performed poorly and was pushed to fourth position, while BSP got enough votes to stand third in the tally. Kedar getting elected as an Independent once again, created an impression that he was undisputed leader in Saoner.
In 2009, however, Kedar faced a very tough contest. Of a total 2,48,489 votes in Saoner constituency, Kedar polled 47.13 per cent votes and defeated his rival Ashish Deshmukh of BJP by a slender margin of 3,472. Ashish is elder son of Congress veteran Ranjit Deshmukh. By defeating Ashish, Kedar created history by defeating father and son both in different elections.
Against the backdrop of slender margin of victory of Kedar, BJP anticipated that it would be able to win Assembly election in 2014. But, BJP decided to field Ashish Deshmukh from Katol and not Saoner. In place of Ashish Deshmukh, BJP nominated Sonba Musale, a Zilla Parishad stalwart. It was expected to be a tough contest. Sadly, for BJP, the Returning Officer (Saoner) rejected nomination of Musale on the ground that he had mentioned in his affidavit his occupation as ‘Government contractor’. Though Musale challenged the Returning Officer’s decision, the court also did not give relief to him. As a result, BJP has no candidate in Saoner.
Absence of BJP has strengthened Sunil Kedar’s position in the election. Still, Shiv Sena’s Vinod Jivtode is likely to give a good fight. Jivtode belongs to a predominant caste Dhanoje Kunbi and he is banking upon it. Besides, in the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year, Shiv Sena candidate Krupal Tumane emerged winner. During the Lok Sabha election campaign, BJP and Shiv Sena were in alliance and both worked hard to popularise Shiv Sena’s party symbol in each of the rural constituencies. This may come in handy for Jivtode in garnering some votes in Assembly election now. If these factors help Jivtode in getting enough votes to win the election, remains to be seen.
Other prominent candidates in the fray include Kishor Choudhari of NCP, Suresh Dongre of BSP, and Pramod Dhole of MNS. NCP does not have much of a presence in Saoner constituency. Kedar, too, had lost the election in 1999 when he contested as an NCP candidate. As far as BSP is concerned, its vote-share has not been steady. In 2004, it polled 18,293 votes and in 2009, it dwindled to mere 6,699. Against this backdrop, how does BSP perform and dent the prospects of others, will be interesting to watch this time. 

 

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