Lok Sabha polls 37 candidates in fray from Aurangabad Shiv Sena factions and AIMIM lock horns

    Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Apr 29 (PTI) A total of 37 candidates are in the fray from Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra where a three-cornered contest is on the cards among two factions of Shiv Sena and the AIMIM.
    "44 candidates had submitted their nomination forms. On the last day of the withdrawal of nominations, seven candidates pulled out of the race," an election official said on Monday.
    Aurangabad constituency will vote on May 13 in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections.
    A total of 30,52,724 voters, including 16,00,169 men and 14,52,415 women, are eligible to exercise their franchise.
    This is the first electoral contest in Aurangabad after the district was renamed as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
    The main contest lies between Shiv Sena headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena (UBT) of Uddhav Thackeray, and the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
    Shiv Sena has fielded Maharashtra minister Sandipan Bhumre against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former MP Chandrakant Khaire, while AIMIM has renominated sitting MP Imtiaz Jaleel.
    Notably, Jaleel had defeated Khaire in a close fight in the 2019 elections when the latter contested as a candidate of Shiv Sena (undivided).
    The Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, which had allied with AIMIM in 2019, is contesting separately this time and fielded Afsar Khan. Former Congress corporator Sanjay Jagtap is contesting on a BSP ticket.
    Former MLA Harshavardhan Jadhav, who polled 2.5 lakh votes in the last elections as an Independent candidate, is also in the poll arena.
    Protests for the Maratha reservation under the OBC grouping, the state government’s decision to grant 10 % reservation to Marathas, and apprehension among OBCs over losing their share of the quota benefits are the major factors in this constituency, besides the communal divide.
    Moreover, the contest is also a test of popularity given the reorganised political affiliations in view of splits in the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party.
    Khaire is a joint candidate of Maha Vikas Aghadi allies, namely Shiv Sena led by Thackeray, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Congress.
    His challenger Bhumre, who belongs to the Shinde-led Sena, is the nominee of Mahayuti which comprises the BJP and the NCP, led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
    For AIMIM, it is a prestige fight to retain the Aurangabad seat given that it was one of its first electoral victories outside Hyderabad.
    Of the six Assembly segments which fall under the Aurangabad seat, five are currently held by the Shinde-led Sena and BJP, barring Kannad which is with the Sena (UBT).

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)