Lok Sabha elections 2024: Royal rumble in rural Satara

There is little to separate Chhatrapati Udayan Raje Bhosale and Shashikant Shinde, making contest hard to predict

As the battle to win the elections in the Satara Lok Sabha constituency has intensified, with the fight between Chhatrapati Udayanraje Bhosale, the BJP Mahayuti Candidate, and Shashikant Shinde of the Sharad Pawar faction, locals are of the opinion that it will be a tough contest and difficult to predict who will win the seat.

Dinesh Pawar, a follower of Udayanraje Bhonsle, said, “In Satara, there is a huge respect for the throne as it belongs to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. So, people in Satara are emotionally attached to the throne, and irrespective of who is contesting, the people will vote for Udayanraje. After PM Narendra Modi’s rally, the situation on the ground has changed, and it’s in favour of Raje.” While speaking to other people of the constituency, especially in the city area, many claimed that NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar’s rallies and speeches might not only provide major relief but even help Shashikant Shinde to sail through.

“Satara has always stood behind Pawar saheb, and this time people are angry because of what happened to the NCP. People might not say it openly, but they will vote in favour of Shashikant Shinde. There is no denial about the fact that Udayanraje has support in Satara from youngsters too, but if you speak with people in the other assembly segments, then you will realise that there are many Mathadi Kamgar families, and they will vote for Shashikant Shinde who also comes from the family of Mathadi Kamgar,” said a villager from Jaoli village requesting not to be named. The six assembly constituencies in the Satara Lok Sabha constituency includes Karad North, Satara, Karada South, Patan, Koregaon, and Wai. Of the six assembly constituencies, two are with NCP, two with Shiv Sena, and one is with Congress where former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan represents Karad South.

Another headache for Raje is his differences with his cousin and BJP MLA Shivendra Raje Bhosale and Shiv Sena Eknath Shinde faction leader Shambhuraj Desai.The issue in the constituency is that of water scarcity in some parts, and unemployment is something that the youth are talking about as they have to travel to metro cities in search of jobs.

For NCP (SP) Chief Sharad Pawar, winning Satara is important, and so he has been seen conducting many rallies in the constituency. Similarly, for BJP too, winning this seat is important, and so PM Narendra Modi’s rally in the presence of other important leaders associated with Mahayuti took place in this constituency.

In 2019, Chhatrapati Udayanraje Bhonsle contested on the NCP ticket and secured 579,026 votes and won with a margin of 126,528 votes. Narendra Patil of Shiv Sena was the runner-up, and he secured 452,498 votes. Since 1962, the NCP has won the seat six times, while the Indian National Congress has won nine times.

Candidates’ strengths and weaknesses

Udayanraje Bhonsle

Positives
>> There is a section which is not happy with sitting MP Shriniwas Patil of NCP (SP) as some people claim that he was not much active.
>> The PM rally in Satara might help Udayanraje.
         
Negatives
>> Differences with cousin Shivendra and ShindeSena  leader Shambhuraj Desai might impact 
>> Sympathy wave for Pawar and Thackeray.
>> Been a two-time MP so people feel someone eles can be given a chance.

Shashikant Shinde

Positives
>> Staying loyal to Sharad Pawar who has a huge support base will help Shashikant Shinde.
>> He is a son of Mathadi Kamgar leader, and the Satara Lok Sabha constituency has a good number of Mathadi Kamgar supporters and families who might help Shashikant Shinde.

Negatives
>> Named as an accused in a Rs 62 crore alleged scam involving allocation of space at the APMC market at lesser rates..
>> Shinde lost Assembly polls in 2019. Questions arise how can Shinde defeat Udyanraje Bhonsle if he couldn’t win the Assembly polls.

579,026
No of votes Udyanraje got in 2019

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