Cakewalk On Debut For Supriya Sule’s BJP ‘Samdhi’

Nagpur/Chandrapur/Yavatmal: BJP's Arun Lakhani, whose son is engaged to NCP MP Supriya Sule's daughter, is all set to be elected unopposed to Maharashtra Legislative Council from Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli Local Authorities constituency after rival candidates backed out on last day of withdrawal on Thursday. Lakhani's path was cleared after Congress nominee Shailesh Agrawal and independent Sudhirchand Kothari pulled out. Agrawal said the Congress did not have the numbers to stay competitive. "We do not have numbers on our side. We initially prepared to build necessary support, but many of our elected representatives, particularly those from economically weaker tribal areas, moved away from us. More members left even after the nomination was filed," he said. Agrawal added that staying in the contest would have only invited horse-trading and unnecessary expenditure. Kothari, originally from the NCP (Ajit Pawar), said he withdrew on directions of senior party functionaries, including Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare and Subodh Mohite, who underlined the need for Mahayuti unity.Lakhani is not the only Nagpur-based nominee left alone in the electoral ring. Former MLC and Shiv Sena (Shinde) functionary Dushyant Chaturvedi too is set to win unopposed from Yavatmal Local Authorities Constituency, where 446 municipal councillors were eligible to vote. Dushyant is the son of former Congress minister Satish Chaturvedi, who continues to be active in the grand old party. Contests, meanwhile, remain alive on three other Vidarbha seats. In Bhandara-Gondia, BJP's Avinash Brahmankar faces independents Naresh Ishwarkar and Sachin Kumbhalkar. In Yavatmal, three nominations were withdrawn to clear Chaturvedi's path. BJP district coordinator Nitin Bhutada, who had filed as an independent rebel, withdrew citing ‘Mahayuti dharma'. Sajid Beg of NCP (Ajit Pawar) and Syed Farooq, a close supporter of senior Congress functionary Manikrao Thakre, also withdrew from the race. In another shocker, Congress nominee Sahebrao Kamble too pulled out on Wednesday. The seat had earlier been the subject of a tug-of-war between BJP and Sena (Shinde) before being allotted to the Shinde faction, with former MLC Chaturvedi finally picked over local aspirant Sheetal Sanjay Rathod. Former minister Madan Yerawar, cabinet minister Sanjay Rathod and Shiv Sena coordinator Parag Pingale were credited with persuading independents to withdraw. Kamble said he stepped aside due to numbers. "I consider myself fortunate that the party reposed faith in a worker like me and gave me the opportunity to contest," he said. Congress district president Sachin Naik, however, attacked the move, saying Kamble "betrayed the party" by withdrawing without consulting the leadership, calling it "disrobing of democracy". Contests, meanwhile, remain alive on three other Vidarbha seats. In Bhandara-Gondia, BJP's Avinash Brahmankar faces independents Naresh Ishwarkar and Sachin Kumbhalkar. In Amravati, BJP's Pravin Pote, Congress's Harshjeet Deshmukh and VBA's Nilesh Vishwakarma are in the fray after independent Prashant Mahalle's withdrawal from the poll fray. In the Nagpur Council byelection, necessitated by Chandrashekhar Bawankule's elevation, BJP's Dr Rajiv Potdar faces Congress' Atul Londhe in a straight contest. Polling is on June 18 and counting on June 22. Polling, where required, is on June 18 and counting on June 22.