In the third phase of the Lok Sabha election, Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli in Western Maharashtra, Beed, Jalna and Aurangabad in Marathwada will vote. To gain complete control of the sugar belt, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has created a split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, which currently control the sugar cooperatives and private mills.
The chairman of a cooperative wields political clout equivalent to that of a member of the legislative assembly and every sugar mill has a work area equal to the boundary of the assembly constituency. Cooperatives are the power and financial centre of that particular area, which should explain the BJP’s intense craving for control. There are 16 cooperative sugar mills in Kolhapur district. Hatkanangale and Kolhapur are its two LS constituencies.
Raju Shetti, the two-time member of Parliament (MP) from the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, is once again contesting the Hatkanangale seat against the Shiv Sena’s Dhairyasheel Mane. In 2014, Shetti had defeated Kallappa Awade of Congress.
Hatkanangale (then Ichalkaranji) LS constituency came into existence in 1962 after a division of the then Kolhapur LS constituency. It remained a Congress bastion from 1962 to 1999, except in 1967, when it went to the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) when Maharani Vijayamala Rajaram Chhatrapati Bhosale had won the seat.
Rajaram Mane and Kallappa Awade from the Congress have represented the constituency. Later, Nivedita Mane, the daughter-in-law of Rajaram ‘Balasaheb’ Mane, represented the constituency in 1999 and 2004 from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Know your candidate
Raju Shetti |
Shetti, who is from the minority Jain community, is the chief of the Shetkari Swabhimani Sanghtana (SSS) and has a hold on the sugar lobby in Kolhapur district. In 2014, his SSS was part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
However, after differences with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over two private bills and the implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission, Shetti quit the NDA and joined the Congress-NCP led Maha Aghadi in the state.
His supporters donate amounts starting from Re1, to ensure he can contest the election and meet daily expenses during polls.
Pending Court Cases
15 cases registered. IPC sections 143, 147, 148, 149, 302, 307, 395, 336, 353, 332, 333, 324, 323, 435, 441, 427 and 34, which includes punishment for illegally gathering people, riot, and attempt to murder. IPC sections 109, 117, 153, 427, 395 for destruction of public property and a fine of Rs 50.
Main rival
Dhairyasheel Mane (Shiv Sena)
Dhairyasheel Mane (Shiv Sena) |
Son of Nivedita Mane, two-time MP from the NCP and. former vice president of the Kolhapur Zilla Parishad. Mother and son quit the NCP before the 2019 LS polls on learning that neither of them were being given tickets, as the constituency was being given to the SSS, after the latter joined the Congress-NCP alliance. So mother and son joined the Shiv Sena in February in the presence of Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.
Assembly seats Shahuwadi: Satyajeet Patil (Shiv Sena)
Hatkanangale: Dr Sujit Minchekar (Shiv Sena)
Ichalkaranji: Suresh Halvankar (BJP)
Shirol: Ulhas Patil (Shiv Sena)
Islampur: Jayant Patil (NCP)
Shirala: Shivajirao Naik (BJP)
Total Voters: 17,65,744
Male: 9,12,087
Female: 8,53,596
Other: 61
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The Kolhapur Lok Sabha constituency is represented by Dhananjay alias Munna Mahadik of the NCP. He is a first-time MP from Kolhapur. Mahadik had defeated Sanjay Sadashiv Mandlik of the Shiv Sena in 2014, despite the Modi wave.
Kolhapur was a Congress bastion from the country’s first general election held in 1951 to 1999 – when the Congress was split and Sharad Pawar founded the NCP. Since 1999, the NCP has held this seat. In 2019, Mahadik will once again be facing Mandlik, his traditional opponent and the Sena candidate.
Dhananjay Mahadik (NCP) |
In 2004, Mahadik had contested as a candidate of the Shiv Sena from Kolhapur against the NCP’s Sadashiv Mandlik, but lost. After that, he parted ways with the Sena and joined the NCP. But the NCP did field him in the 2009 LS polls and he ran unsuccessfully, as an Independent.
After winning in 2014, he never shared the dais with the Congress and the NCP in Kolhapur. He instead, fielded a family member against the Congress candidate Satej Patil in the 2014 assembly polls in Kolhapur constituency and defeated him.
Patil is not working for the NCP candidate Mahadik as political revenge, despite there being a Congress-NCP alliance.
Pending Court Cases
Four cases pending. IPC sections 143, 341 for obstructing NH-4 at the time of agitation. IPC sections 379, 410, 414, 424, 384, read with 34 for alleged offence of theft of cable (set top box).
IPC sections 188, 171 (E) for breach of election code of conduct, alleged offence of inducement at the time of election. IPC section 188 for breach of election of conduct, alleged use of speaker without permission. No conviction in any criminal case.
Votes won in 2014
6,07,775
Winning margin
33,259
Questions asked in Parliament
1,175
(debated on 65)
Private Member’s Bills introduced
3
Net assets:
Rs 20.72 Cr
MPLAD spending
Rs 17.96 Cr
of the sanctioned
Rs 22.67 Cr
What people think about their sitting MP
Vijay Patil, political analyst
The NCP chief Sharad Pawar is very happy with MP Mahadik. He liked his performance in the Parliament and hence, has given him a ticket for the second time.
But at the ground level, Mahadik has been seen with the BJP since the beginning. He is not acceptable to the Congress. He is also not available to voters. The common man is not happy with him.
Rating: 5/10
Advocate Vaibhav Pednekar, social activist and lawyer
Kolhapur is the second metro after Pune in Western Maharashtra. Citizens were fuming over toll collection from vehicle owners within city limits.
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The MP failed to find a solution despite his good relations with BJP leaders, including Nitin Gadkari, the union minister and Chandrakant Patil, the PWD minister in the state. He never was with the Maratha community during their agitation and the Kranti Morcha. People are not happy with him.
Rating: 3/10
Main rival
Sanjay Sadashiv Mandlik (Shiv Sena)
Sanjay Sadashiv Mandlik (Shiv Sena) |
Sanjay Mandlik is the son of Sadashiv Mandlik, who has represented this constituency four times – in 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009. Sadashiv, a staunch supporter of Sharad Pawar, went with him after the formation of the NCP in 1999 and represented Kolhapur as the NCP candidate. He won the seat as an Independent in 2009 and 2014.
His son Sanjay joined the Sena and had contested against Dhananjay Mahadik in 2014. He lost by 33,259 votes. He was the former president of the Kolhapur Zilla Parishad as a Congressman in 2012.
He is the chairman of a cooperative sugar mill which has received a national award for ‘highest sugar yield’ and the best sugar factory award from the Maharashtra government. He has implemented an accident insurance policy for sugar mill workers, built dams and village ponds.
Assembly seats Chandgad: Sandhyadevi Desai-Kupekar (NCP)
Radhanagari: Prakash Abitkar (Shiv Sena)
Kagal: Hasan Mushrif (NCP)
Kolhapur South: Amol Mahadik (BJP)
Karveer: Chandradeep Narke (Shiv Sena)
Kolhapur North: Rajesh Kshirsagar (Shiv Sena)
Total voters: 18,68,235
Male: 9,54,788
Female: 9,13,433
Other: 14
Satara was the capital of Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. After Shivaji Maharaj, the Maratha dynasty was divided into the kingdoms of Satara and Kolhapur. Chhatrapati Udayanraje Bhosale is the 13th direct descendant of Shivaji Maharaj.
He is a two-time member of Parliament of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Satara was also the ‘karmabhoomi’ of the state’s first chief minister, Yeshwantrao Chavan.
Shrimant Chhatrapati Udayan Raje Bhosale (NCP) |
Udayanraje Bhosale, the sitting MP, had defeated Purushottam Jadhav, an Independent, in 2014. Contesting as a Shiv Sena candidate, Jadhav had lost to Bhosale in 2009, too. Though Bhosale has never opened his mouth in Parliament, he is popular among the people in Satara.
This constituency was a Congress bastion until the formation of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in 1999. The only exceptions were in 1952 and 1996, when Nana Ramchandra Patil of the Communist Party of India (CPI) won in the second general elections and the Sena’s Hindurao Naik Nimbalkar won, respectively.
Votes won in 2014
5,22,531
Winning Margin
3,66,594
Questions asked in
Parliament
0
Private Member’s Bills
introduced
0
Net assets:
Rs 157.24 Cr
MPLAD spending
Rs 12.46 Cr
out of
Rs 21.73 Cr
sanctioned
Pending Court Cases
Total 23 cases registered against Raje in various police stations in Satara district. In a case regarding illegal gathering of people and attempt to murder in 1999, a case was registered in Satara police station under IPC section 302, 427, 143, 147, 148, 149, 34, 120 (B).
The district court released him from the case. However, the government challenged the lower court decision in Bombay High Court.
The case is pending in HC. Other cases include rioting, violation of the election code of conduct, attack on a district cooperative bank manager, breach of promulgation order by forming unlawful assembly and vandalism of public properties.
Main rival
Narendra Patil (Shiv Sena)
Narendra Patil is a Mathadi (a labourer in the Agriculture Produce Market Committees – APMCs) leader and the son of the late Annasaheb Patil, founder of the Mathadi union. He was a member of the legislative council (MLC) of the NCP. After his term as MLC ended, he joined hands with the BJP, which offered him the post of president of the Annasaheb Patil Arthik Vikas Mahamandal, a corporation established for the welfare of the Maratha community.
Later, he officially joined the BJP, but in the seat-sharing formula between BJP-Sena, Satara went to the Sena. Hence, Patil, before filing his nomination for the Lok Sabha polls, joined the Sena. Satara district is known as the land of Mathadis. Most Mathadis in the Navi Mumbai APMC have roots in Satara.
Assembly seats
Wai: Makrand Jadhav-Patil (NCP)
Koregaon: Shashikant Shinde (NCP)
Karad North : Prithviraj Chavan (Congress)
Karad South : Shamrao Patil (NCP)
Patan : Shambhuraje Desai (Shiv Sena)
Satara : Shivendrasinh Bhosale (NCP)
Total voters: 18,23,476
Male: 9,28,620
Female: 8,94,840
Other: 16
What people think about their sitting MP
Siddhi Pawar, president, women’s self-help group
Udayanraje is always available for the common man. He helps people regardless of their political affiliations. He has monetarily assisted the poor with their daughters’ marriages.
So, whether or not he asked questions in Parliament is not important. He resolves the common man’s issues. The most important thing is he is ‘Raje’, and we have great respect for him.
Rating: 10/10
Sudhakar Shinde, Mathadi union leader
Narendra Patil is not only a Mathadi leader, but also a Maratha leader. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has shown faith in him and entrusted him with the responsibility of sorting out Maratha issues. In the last few months, Patil has approved loans to several Maratha youth to help them start a business.
Construction of a hostel for students from the community is his other target and we believe, if Patil becomes the MP, for Marathas, truly, achhe din will arrive. We respect the sitting MP Raje but are not satisfied with him.
Rating: 4/10
