Three legislators in battleground makes Guhagar prestigious

The battle in this Assembly constituency in coastal Konkan region is being watched keenly as Leader of Opposition in the House and Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam takes on sitting MLA Vinay Natu, BJP rebel contesting as an independent after the party denied him ticket.

Natu is in fray as an independent after BJP left Guhagar for Sena during seat-sharing talks. Guhagar seat became a bone of contention between the saffron alliance partners, delaying the seat adjustment. Three legislators have locked horns in Guhagar. Besides Kadam and Natu, NCP MLC Bhaskar Jadhav is also in the fray.

BJP was reluctant to lose Guhagar, its bastion to ally Sena as since 1972, Jan Sangh was associated with Guhagar. Then the seat went to Janata Dal and subsequently to BJP. Natu filed the nomination under a new party banner Shridhar Sena, named after his late father, who was also elected from the same seat.

"It was an injustice done to me and the party activists here. We all are together in the fight and my work alone will speak," Natu said. Jadhav, former Sena man who left the party in 2004 alleging sale of tickets in the party, had contested assembly polls independently from Chiplun and lost by 1,500 votes. Later, he joined NCP and became an MLC.

Kadam contested from Khed constituency in 2004. After Narayan Rane, now a Congress Minister, left Sena, Kadam was made Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly. However, Kadam, became homeless as his constituency ceased to exist post-delimitation.

He initially staked claim on neighbouring Dapoli, represented by the Sena's Shivram Dalvi, who refused to oblige. Kadam apparently threatened to quit the party if he wasn't given the Guhagar seat. After delimitation, the Guhagar constituency consists of neighbouring Khed and Chiplun areas with 205686 voters.

The economy of Guhagar boomed after the Dabhol Power Project, was started in the early 1990s. The last time Guhagar was in the news was when Dabhol Power Project shut down. Natu may have an advantage over other candidates, as a sizeable chunk of the Guhagar voters are BJP supporters.

Also, of the 297 polling booths, 181 booths are in old Guhagar and the Sena has not much support there. There is also a wave of sympathy among locals about Natu's rebellion against the party, as he has been elected in 1993-by election, 1995, 1999 and in 2004.

Meanwhile, Jadhav said he is confident of his victory. "I was prepared to contest against Natu or Kadam and had planned my strategies accordingly. I knew either of them would contest," he said.

"In fact, now things are simpler for me as both would eat into each other's votes," Jadhav said. MNS candidate Vaibhav Khedekar would pose a threat to Kadam, he added.

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