Fate of Chavan, Ambedkar, Shinde will be sealed today

Mumbai: Severe drought and farmers’ problems are likely to decide the outcome in 10 constituencies of the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions that will go to polls in the second phase Thursday.

The elections will decide the fate of prominent candidates like former chief ministers Ashok Chavan and Sushilkumar Shinde (both Congress); and Prakash Ambedkar (Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi).

In the second phase, Buldhana, Akola and Amravati in Vidarbha and Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani, Beed, Osmanabad and Latur in Marathwada and Solapur in south-western Mahar-ashtra will go to polls.

In the 2014 elections, the NDA won eight out of these 10 seats, riding the Narendra Modi wave, whereas the Congress managed to win the remaining two seats – Nanded and Hingoli. This time, the BJP and Shiv Sena are contesting four seats each, while the Congress and NCP are contesting five and four seats, respectively. The NCP has supported an ally in Amravati.

The Solapur seat is witnessing an interesting battle between former Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Jai Siddheshwar Swami (BJP). However, Shinde’s chances may be dented by VBA candidate Prakash Ambedkar.