Amravati: The Amravati Division Teachers’ Constituency will go to polls on Friday to elect its representative to the Maharashtra Legislative Council.
A total of 35,810 voters across Amravati, Akola, Yavatmal, Washim and Buldhana districts will decide the fate of 26 candidates. Voting will be held at 81 polling centres from 8 am to 4 pm through the preferential voting system. In the 2020 election, Sarnaik had won as an Independent with 15,606 votes, including 6,095 first preference votes. He had defeated then sitting MLC Shrikant Deshpande, who polled 9,191 votes with 5,135 first preference votes as the Shiv Sena candidate. The constituency had recorded 81.10% turnout in 2020, with 30,918 of the total 38,129 voters exercising their franchise.
Pohare, on the other hand, has the backing of her father and former minister Harshwardhan Deshmukh, who heads the Shri Shivaji Education Society — the largest educational institution network in Vidarbha. Her candidature has been further bolstered by Nagpur University Teachers’ Association (NUTA), which has included her in its panel of four candidates. Key issues dominating the campaign are restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and demands of convent and unaided school teachers. BJP’s Dr Nitin Dhande had finished a distant sixth.