Nagpur / Amravati: Sitting Congress MLC Abhijit Wanjarri and BJP’s Sudhakar Kohale face a direct fight in the Nagpur division graduates’ constituency, while rebellion and internal rifts have hit Mahayuti in the Amravati division teachers’ constituency.Polling for both seats is on Friday, and campaigning in Nagpur, where 38 candidates are in the fray, ended on Wednesday evening.BJP rebel Anil Sole withdrew from the race after the party persuaded him, but his name remains on the ballot paper. Sole has urged voters not to vote for him.CM Devendra Fadnavis, Union minister Nitin Gadkari and guardian minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule addressed rallies and meetings for Kohale across the division’s six districts. Wanjarri largely campaigned on his own, with senior Congress functionaries appearing at only one gathering.In Amravati, about 10 of the 26 candidates are seen as serious contenders. Sitting MLC Kiran Sarnaik, who won the last election as an Independent, is now the official Mahayuti candidate from Shiv Sena.BJP rebels Sangita Shinde, Shekhar Bhoyar and Sumit Pawar, all expelled from the party, are also in the fray. Sources said the local BJP cadre was working for the rebels rather than Sarnaik.Former mayor Milind Chimote, a member of the three-member Congress poll coordination committee, said party candidate Aditi Pohare was counting on support beyond Congress ranks. Chimote said, “Unlike BJP rebels who are working against each other with enmity, we are treating other candidates as fellow contestants. We are friendly with them, as voting is preferential and any second or third preference for Pohare from their voters will help.”Former MLC Shrikant Deshpande of Shiv Sena, contesting as an Independent against Sarnaik, defended his candidature. Deshpande said, “I am not a rebel. I told Dy CM Shinde that I don’t want the party ticket. I made it clear I would prefer to contest as an Independent. That’s why the party did not expel me.”
