M'shtra: Triangular fight on cards in Ramtek bypolls

Nagpur, Apr 8: A tough triangular fight is on the cards for tomorrow's by-election from Ramtek Lok Sabha constituency in Vidarbha region, where two of the prominent candidates are rebels from their parties.

Although 12 candidates are in the fray in the constituency, the real fight is between Subodh Mohite, who resigned from the Shiv Sena to join the Congress, thus necessiating the bypoll, and was fielded by the party, Prakash Jadhav of the Shiv Sena, and Congress rebel Ranjit Deshmukh, contesting as an independent candidate.

The Minister for Heavy Industries in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, Mr Mohite has won twice from Ramtek in 1999 and 2004 as a Shiv Sena nominee, and is also hoping that the balance will tilt in his favour this time too as he has been fielded by the Congress party, which is the major partner in the governments, both at the Centre and in the state.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena nominee, Prakash Jadhav, is laying stress on the 'loyalty' angle, with his party dubbing Mr Mohite as a ''traitor, who quit the very party because of which he rose in his political career.'' The Shiv Sena is highlighting in its campaign issues like farmers' suicides and power shortage in Vidarbha, and is harping on the alleged failures of the Democratic Front (DF) government in power in the state.

Congress rebel Ranjit Deshmukh is banking on the discontent against the Congress and Shiv Sena to see him through in the by-poll. In his campaign, Mr Deshmukh has highlighted the problems of farmers, especially the large number of suicides in the region. Mr Deshmukh asserts that he is in the fray not for personal gains but to highlight the problems of farmers in the region.

Although it is the third Lok Sabha election for Mr Mohite, it is the first for Mr Jadhav as well as Mr Deshmukh.

The battle for Ramtek, where Kalidasa is supposed to have written the 'Meghdootam,' has become prestigious for both, the Congress as well as the Shiv Sena. The Congress wants to prove that Ramtek is still its bastion and that the two victories of the Shiv Sena in 1999 and 2004 were exceptions that could be attributed more to Mr Mohite's personal charisma than the saffron brigade's hold in the constituency.

The Congress is also attaching a lot of prestige to the fight since the constituency has been represented by heavyweights like former Prime Minister late P V Narasimha Rao (1989). Incidentally, Ramtek was considered a bastion of the Congress before the Shiv Sena wrested it seven years ago. On the other hand, the Shiv Sena is out to demonstrate that the electorate in Ramtek would not forgive whom it perceives as a turncoat. It would also like to prove that its victories in the two previous elections were no flukes. Indeed, the saffron alliance had overwhelming success in Vidarbha during the Lok Sabha polls of 2004, winning 10 of the 11 constituencies in the region, with the lone exception being Nagpur. The Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance would like to prove that it still enjoys support in Vidarbha.

The electioneering has entered the final lap as it comes to an end tomorrow evening. Several star campaigners turned out for various candidates today.

Those who campaigned for Mr Mohite included Union Minister for Railways and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) President Lalu Prasad Yadav, actress Zeenat Aman, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel, Maharashtra Minister for Public Works Anil Deshmukh, Minister for Revenue Narayan Rane, Minister for Textiles Satish Chaturvedi, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) President Prabha Rau and Ramdas Athavale, MP.

Those who turned out for Mr Jadhav included ctor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Ramdas Kadam, former chief minister Manohar Joshi, Shetkari Sanghatana chief Sharad Joshi, party Working President Uddhav Thackeray, Sanjay Raut, MP, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit President Nitin Gadkari.

Among those who tried to woo voters for Mr Deshmukh was actress Yukta Mukhy.

Ramtek Lok Sabha constituency includes five assembly segments in Nagpur district - Umrer, Kalameshwar, Katol, Saoner and Ramtek - and one in the neighbouring Amravati district - Morshi. There are a total of 11,66,011 voters, including 6,12,677 male voters and 5,59,334 female voters. Polling will take place on April 9 at 1,180 polling booths. Of these, 106 have been identified as sensitive, which include 5 in Umrer, 14 in Kalameshwar, 21 in Katol, 39 in Saoner, 18 in Ramtek and 9 in Morshi. Counting is scheduled to take place on April 12.

UNI