Keen contest on cards in Jalgaon, Erandol

Jalgaon, Apr 8 (UNI) A keen contest seems likely in the by-polls to the Jalgaon and Erandol Lok Sabha constituencies tomorrow, as the Congress and its ally NCP make efforts to dethrone the BJP which considers these its strongholds and has won the former four times consecutively.

In Jalgaon, where 11 candidates are in the fary, the main contest is expected to be between BJP's Haribhau Jawale and Dr Arjun Bhangale of the Congress and between Dr B S Patil of the BJP, a sitting MLA and Vasantrao More of NCP in Erandol.

The by-polls were necessitated owing to the the expulsion of BJP MPs Y G Mahajan and M K Anna Patil from Jalgaon and Erandol respectively from the Lok Sabha after being implicated in the infamous 'Cash-for-Query' scandal.

The Jalgaon Lok Sabha constituency comprises of Jalgaon, Jamner, Bhusaval, Yaval, Raver and Edlabad assembly constituencies. The total electorate strength in the Lok Sabha constituency is 12,94,751 of whom 6,26,716 are women.

Mr Jawale is a former MLA while Dr Bhangale is close to NCP's Suresh Jain who enjoys a tremendous clout here. Dr Bhangale incidentally had quit the NCP to join the Congress.

Cinestar-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, BJP state chief Nitin Gadkari, Shiv Sena Working President Uddhav Thackeray, senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde, TV-star-turned-politician Smriti Irani were among those who campaigned for Jawale.

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Suresh Jain were among those spearheading the support for Dr Bhangale.

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