Despite his humiliating defeat in the 2014 general elections, will the Congress field former Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde yet again from the Solapur Lok Sabha constituency?
Speculation is rife in Solapur city and in Maharashtra that Shinde may get the ticket once again despite the fact that he was defeated in 2014 by BJP's Sharad Bansode. The margin of Shinde's defeat was more than 1.5 lakh votes. It was the first-ever defeat that Shinde had faced in his five-decade-long political career.
The talk of the town in Solapur is that Shinde is keen to make a comeback. The Solapur City Congress unit has also favoured Shinde's name over any other candidate. Shinde is in regular touch with people from Solapur. His trips to Solapur have increased in the past few months. His daughter, Praniti, is a Congress legislator from one of the three assembly constituencies in Solapur City.
The only obstacle that remains, however, is Shinde's age. He is 77 years old. "If the party high command decides not to give tickets to leaders over 75 years of age, then Shinde Saheb will not get the ticket and we will have to recommend some other name. But the fact remains that no one can match the popularity and grip over the city that Shinde Saheb has," a Solapur Congress leader told THE WEEK.
Solapur City Congress president Prakash Wale said that the city and district were firmly supporting Sushilkumar Shinde's candidature. "We want him to contest. We have said so in a resolution that was sent recently to the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. If his age becomes a barrier, then we would like Praniti Tai to contest from Solapur," informed Wale. Sources, however, indicated that Praniti herself is not too keen to graduate to the Lok Sabha so early.
The BJP, on the other hand, is likely to field sitting MP Sharad Bansode again. Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil told THE WEEK that there is no reason to deny the ticket to Bansode. The talk in Solapur, meanwhile, is that the name of Amar Sable, BJP MP in Rajya Sabha, is also doing the rounds for the Solapur seat.
Another name doing the rounds as a possible BJP candidate is that of Dr Jai Siddheshwar Shivacharya Mahaswami, a religious leader of the Lingayat community, which has a strong presence in Solapur. He has his mutt in Gaud village in Akkalkot tehsil and is widely respected and can bring votes of the entire Lingayat community to the BJP, it is claimed.