Nagpur: The election campaign for the October 13 Assembly polls ended at 5 pm today in Vidarbha region where over 800 candidates are fighting for 62 seats.
All major political parties like Congress, NCP, BJP and
Sena are facing rebellion. There is little presence of MNS
in the region and hence question of rebellion has not arisen.
They are contesting the elections for the first time.
Prominent among the pack of rebels is Maharashtra
Minister of State for Energy, Sunil Deshmukh who was denied
ticket from Amravati and replaced by Rajendra alias Raosaheb
Shekhawat, only son of President of India, Pratibha Patil.
Nagpur city NCP president former two-term Congress MLA
Ashok Dhawad could not resist the temptation and decided to
fight as an independent (rebel) from Nagpur-South.
He sent his resignation after remaining in fray and has
come under severe criticism from NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Congress general
secretary Rahul Gandhi and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar addressed
election rallies in Vidarbha. Sonia had addressed first rally
in Buldana and second in Nagpur city while Rahul addressed
meetings for his youth brigade nominees Yeshomati Thakur
(Tiwasa), Rahul Pugalia (Chandrapur) and at Yavatmal.
BJP's top leader L K Advani and Gujarat Chief Minister
Narendra Modi, however, preferred to skip Vidabha this time.
They were substituted by other central leaders like Venkaiah
Naidu, Arun Jetley and Shatrughan Sinha.
MNS president Raj Thackeray did not enter Vidarbha. BSP
president and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati also
addressed a public meeting.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, October 11, 2009, 18:52