Political family heirs, actors jump on poll mode in Maharashtra

MUMBAI: Descendants of political families, actors, professionals, and a former chief minister are in fray for election to 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. The state, which accounts for the second highest number of Lok Sabha constituencies after Uttar Pradesh, goes to polls in three phases starting from April 10.

In the first phase of election for ten constituencies from Vidarbha, there are 201 candidates in fray while in the second phase on April 17, 19 constituencies in Marathwada and western Maharashtra will see 358 candidates. The 19 seats of Mumbai, Thane, North Maharashtra, Raigad, Aurangabad and Jalna will go to polls in the third phase.

As many as 495 candidates have filed their nominations and the last date of withdrawal is April 9. Among the generation next of political families, Supriya Sule, daughter of NCP chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, is seeking a second term from the family seat Baramati. In 2009, she had won by a margin of over three lakh votes.

Union Minister of State for Telecom Milind Deora, son of senior Congress leader Murli Deora, is seeking a third term from the prestigious Mumbai South seat. Priya Dutt, the daughter of actor-politician late Sunil Dutt, is in fray from Mumbai North Central as Congress nominee. She is pitted against Poonam Mahajan, daughter of BJP leader late Pramod Mahajan.

Besides, Vishwajit Kadam, son of Congress veteran Patangrao Kadam and state youth party chief, is the candidate from Pune, while Indian Youth Congress president Rajiv Satav is in fray from Hingoli. Not just sons and daughters, but some daughters-in-law are also making their debut this time.

In Raver, opposition leader Eknath Khadse's daughter-in-law Raksha is the BJP candidate against Manish Jain of NCP, the son of NCP Rajya Sabha member Ishwarlal Jain. In Dindori, NCP legislator A T Pawar's daughter-in-law Bharati, a medical practitioner, is making electoral debut.