Kolhapur: Setting aside their political rivalry, politicians of Mahayuti and MVA camps struck a rare deal for Sangli District Central Cooperative (DCC) Bank elections, resulting in 19 of the 21 seats being won unopposed on the final day for withdrawal of nominations.
The unprecedented understanding between the two camps effectively turned the contest into a consensus election, leaving only two seats headed for polling on Nov 1.
BJP functionary Prithviraj Deshmukh said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had urged politicians to avoid a prolonged election battle and focus administrative and political attention on drought relief. One seat is being contested by BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar and the other by former MLA and NCP leader Ajitrao Ghorpade. “During a recent meeting at Kolhapur airport, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis urged Mahayuti politicians to avoid a divisive election battle amid the worsening drought.
NCP (SP) politician Jayant Patil said the bank’s interests had been placed above party politics. This election is about the future of the bank, not political parties,” he said. “We have worked together before. The outcome also underlined the continuing dominance of influential political families in Sangli’s cooperative sector. Several candidates elected unopposed are either senior politicians themselves or close relatives of influential netas across party lines.