In Sunil Kedar’s absence, Saoner presents an open field

 

 

THOUGH not very historical or economically important, Saoner Assembly constituency has been a political powerhouse as bigwigs of State politics dominate this segment. Identified more with Sunil Kedar, Saoner will see a open field this year after the Congress strongman’s disqualification owing conviction in Gilts scam. Saoner is headed for a straight fight between Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). BJP has slowly and surely made inroads into the constituency and continues to present a strong challenge to the Kedar citadel. The family patriarch Chhatrapal Kedar held the seat for a considerably long time. Sunil Kedar will not be in the race but he is still going to call the shots and Congress is likely to field candidate of his choice. BJP to is set to put up a strong candidate, someone who can pose challenge to Kedar's supremacy. A look at past three elections shows that Kedar remained dominant as he completed a hat-trick of wins. Only in 2009, when Ashish Deshmukh was in fray, Kedar faced his biggest political challenge and managed to scrape with just 2 per cent winning margin. About 10 contestant were in fray in 2009 and it generated quite a heat as the fight was formidable and Kedar was made to work very hard by Deshmukh. Kedar managed to retain the seat but not before BJP made inroads in Saoner.

 

 

There were 2,48,489 voters of whom 1,74,957 (70.4%) cast their votes and victory margin for Kedar was just 3,472 (2%). Kedar secured 82,452 (47.1%) of valid votes on Congress ticket while Deshmukh got 78,980 (45.1%) as BJP nominee. One crucial factor of Saoner seat has been steady increase in vote share of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). In 2009, its candidate Chandrakant Wankhede got 6,699 or 3.8% of valid votes. During the next election in 2014, BSP increased its vote share to 5.9 per cent. In next election held again in October 2014, Sunil Kedar managed to retain the seat, this time comfortably as Shiv Sena fielded Vinod Jivtode as its candidate. Of the 2,70,185 electors, only 1,86,711(70.1%) cast their votes and compared to 2009, Kedar’s winning margin increased to 9,209 (4.9%). Jivtode secured 75,421 or 40.4% of the votes. Suresh Dongre of BSP secured 11,097 or 5.9% share in the total votes. In 2019, it was a cakewalk for Kedar as the opponent, BJP’s Rajeev Potdar, was not that formidable. Kedar established his firm grip as the victory margin increased to 26,291 vote.

 

In all, there were eight contestants in the field and voting percentage was 69.8 per cent from total eligible voters of 1,57,078. Kedar secured 113,184 or 53.9% of votes while Potdar, then President, BJP Nagpur District unit, got 86,893 or 41.4% of vote share. This time, however, the performance of BSP declined sharply as its share in the polled votes dropped to 2.1 per cent. BSP candidate Sanchayata Patil could get just 4,381 (2.1% ) of votes.