2019 Assembly poll fight in Latur Rural 'fixed': BJP leader

The 2019 Assembly poll contest inthe Latur Rural segment in Marathwada was fixed, formerMaharashtra Minister and BJP leader Sambhaji Patil Nilangekarhas alleged.

Maharashtra Minister and Congress leader AmitDeshmukhs younger brother Dhiraj had emerged victorious fromthe seat in Latur district securing 1,35,006 votes in theelection.

The option of NOTA (None of the Above) had claimedsecond slot in the Assembly segment, where Shiv Sena candidateSachin Deshmukh, with paltry 13,524 votes, was relegated to adistant third position.

Congress MLA Dhiraj Deshmukh on Thursday dismissed theclaims made by Patil Nilangekar, who hails from Laturdistrict, and said the latter should comment on ''whether ornot there was a settingin ticket distribution'' between theShiv Sena and the BJP, who were allies in the 2019 polls.

Speaking at an event in Latur on Wednesday, PatilNilangekar said the Latur Rural seat was in the BJPs quotaduring the days of the partys alliance with the Shiv Sena.

He said the BJP had fought election from the seat in2014 and garnered around 93,000 votes.

The party could have won from the seat in 2019 had itcontested again from there, the BJP leader said.

However, the Shiv Sena, the BJPs then ally, insistedon contesting the election from the rural constituency, heclaimed.

The BJP and the Shiv Sena had contested the 2019Assembly polls together, but the two parties snapped tiesafter results due to differences over sharing chiefministerial post.

The Shiv Sena later formed government in the state inalliance with the NCP and the Congress, its then politicalopponents.

It was a seat in BJPs quota. BJPs Ramesh Karad hadsecured around 93,000 votes in the 2014 polls. But suddenlythe Shiv Sena insisted on contesting the election from theseat in the 2019 polls, Patil Nilangekar said.

The BJP leader said the Shiv Sena fielded a candidatefrom the seat who was not known to anyone locally.

The former minister claimed the Shiv Sena candidatedid not even campaign and had disappeared after filingnomination papers.

Even Shiv Sainiks (Sena workers) had then writtenposts (on social media) about their candidate going missing.

Such was the situation.

...the Latur Rural Assembly seat was fixed...Ithappened at high-level...What happened was a murder ofdemocracy. I felt pained, Patil Nilangekar alleged, withoutnaming anyone.

He claimed the contest in the Latur Rural segment wasfixed in return of extending help in another constituency inMumbai where the winning candidate (Dhiraj Deshmukh) lives.

Patil Nilangekar was apparently referring to the WorliAssembly seat, which was won by Shiv Senas Aaditya Thackeray,the son of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the currentTourism Minister.

You may fix a contest once, but next time you wontwin. I must tell you that the people (from Latur Rural) willnot forgive you, Patil Nilangekar said.

Dhiraj Deshmukh dismissed Patil Nilangekar's claimswhile speaking to a Marathi news channel in Mumbai.

It is his statement. He only can comment on itbetter, on what was the ticket distribution equation in hisparty. We, the Congress and NCP, had shared seats as peralliance dharma,'' Dhiraj Deshmukh said.

He said the BJP leader should speak on ticketdistribution with its then ally Shiv Sena.

''They (the BJP) and the Shiv Sena were in alliance(then). So, he only can comment betterwhether there was asettingor not in ticket distribution (in the alliance betweenSena-BJP), Dhiraj Deshmukh said.