Maharashtra Elections 2024: Anil Deshmukh's son to square off father's namesake fielded by Ajit Pawar

Salil Deshmukh, NCP-SP, Katol Assembly constituency

In a dramatic turn of events on Thursday it has emerged that former home minister Anil Deshmukh's son Salil Deshmukh, who is contesting the Assembly election on a Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar ticket from Katol near Nagpur, will be facing his father's namesake, Anil Shankarrao Deshmukh, whose nomination was endorsed by the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) despite its Mahayuti ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) putting its candidate in the fray much ahead of the nomination process.

Anil Deshmukh, former home minister

The returning officer for the Katol constituency cleared Anil Shankarrao Deshmukh's nomination on Thursday amidst objections raised by the rival NCP faction's Salil Deshmukh. Observers said that the namesake's entry would help Mahayuti allies to divide votes in a three-way contest, because Anil Shankarrao Deshmukh, fairly unknown to the people, will be allotted the clock symbol of NCP (AP), which is known to the constituency since 1999.

"The advantage for the Ajit Pawar faction is that the former home minister is not contesting, but the voters may think he is because of the election symbol that won him elections since 1999. Salil Deshmukh will have his party's new symbol, depicting a man blowing a turra, which is not in vogue as compared to the clock," said a politician from Nagpur.

BJP's official candidate Charansingh Thakur will have the lotus as his symbol. Former minister late Shrikant Jichkar's son and Congress youth leader, Yajnavalkya Shrikant Jichkar and his mother Rajashree, have filed their nominations as independents. The mother is expected to withdraw. Former MP Subodh Mohite's nomination was also cleared.