Battle of the biggies

From Thackeray cousins to heavyweight veterans, a look at four hotly contested seats featuring high-profile candidates in the Maharashtra assembly elections

- NACHIKET KELKAR AND POOJA BIRAIA

SHIRDI

There was buzz when a chartered aircraft landed at Shirdi airport on October 30. Perhaps a high-profile dignitary had come to seek Saibaba’s blessing? As it turned out, the aircraft was on a political mission—to take Rajendra Pipada to Mumbai. The BJP leader had turned rebel and insisted on contesting from Shirdi; the party, however, officially backed incumbent Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil from the seat.

The veteran has won Shirdi seven times. Having been with the Congress and Shiv Sena earlier, he joined the BJP in 2019. He still won that year, beating the Congress’s Suresh Thorat by close to 90,000 votes.

“I have been connected with the people of Shirdi for the last 35 to 40 years,” said the Maharashtra revenue minister. “My father (Balasaheb Vikhe Patil) was an MP who took care of the people here like his own children. I have carried this legacy forward.”

Not everyone, especially Pipa-da, buys this legacy talk. Despite Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule holding lengthy discussions with him, Pipada is adamant about contesting from Shirdi as an independent. He had lost a close fight to Vikhe Patil in Shirdi in 2009.

Should the local marwadi community vote for Pipada, Vikhe Patil will have a tough time.

Residents of Shirdi say their town needs more jobs and tourism-related facilities. “Other than the Saibaba temple, there is little else here,” said a local shop owner. “People come, take darshan and leave. We should create more attractions so that tourists stay for a longer time.”

Aware of this, Vikhe Patil lists the projects in the works, including a new theme park in Shirdi and the expansion of the Ahmednagar MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation), which he said would create more jobs.