Mumbai: Kankavli in Maharashtra has been transformed into a virtual battlefield ahead of the Assembly elections to be held on Thursday with the BJP as well as Shiv Sena fielding their respective candidates despite a coalition on all 288 seats.
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The BJP has fielded Nitesh Rane, who won this seat on Congress ticket in 2014, as its candidate from Kankavli, while the Shiv Sena has fielded Satish Sawant. Sawant was all set to contest the polls as an independent candidate and had filed nomination too.
With just a week left for the voting day and election campaigning on in full swing, the tensions are expected to rise between the two parties.
Maharashtra chief minister also addressed a public meeting in support of Rane on Tuesday in Kanakavli while his father Narayan Rane too joined the BJP. The virtual faceoff intensified on October 16 when Shiv Sena chief Udddhav Thackeray visited Kankavli.
The history of skirmishes in Kankavli can be traced back to 2005 when Narayan left the Shiv Sena and switched to the Congress side along with his supporters. He had left the party due to growing differences with Thackeray. His move had caused a jolt to the Shiv Sena in Konkan. The seat has now become a question of honour for both the sides.
Narayan has fielded two independent candidates here in a bid to alter Shiv Sena’s voter base. The local BJP leadership has backed independent candidates in Kudal and Sawantwadi against the Sena's nominees. In Sawantwadi, Rajan Teli is pitted against state home minister Deepak Kesarkar and Ranjeet Desai is fielded against Vaibhav Naik in Kudal.
Konkan has always been a stronghold for the Shiv Sena while the BJP and other parties haven’t been able to make their mark here.
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