DNA
 
Mumbai, Mar 16: The tacit understanding struck by the Congress and NCP rebels with the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance during the recent round of state civic elections continues to have a cascading effect on the ensuing Lok Sabha (LS) bye-elections for Ramtek, Erandol and Jalgaon seats.

Former MPCC president Ranjit Deshmukh has already announced he would contest the LS bye-elections from Ramtek seat, sending the Congress leadership into a tizzy. In the recently concluded Zilla Parishad, Panchayat Samiti and Municipal Corporation elections in the Vidarbha region, Deshmukh’s new outfit, the Kisan Aghadi, had eaten into the Congress votebank, thus paving the way for the electoral success achieved by the BJP and the Sena.

Similarly, another NCP rebel MLA and ex-minister Sureshkumar Jain is also reported to be keen on contesting the elections from the Erandol seat. However, Jalgaon district unit chief and local MLA Girish Mahajan ruled out the possibility of the party exchanging the Erandol seat with the Sena in return for the Ramtek seat on Thursday.

“The BJP is likely to field its sitting MLA Dr BS Patil from Erandol and Sanjay Bade from Jalgaon seat,” Mahajan said.