Sangli district bank polls: MLA Suresh Khade among seven candidates whose nominations are rejected
Seven nominations, including those of BJP MLA Suresh Khade and Pooja Patil, were rejected in scrutiny; objections against MP Vishal Patil and MLA Gopichand Padalkar were dismissed.
Nomination papers for the Sangli District Central Cooperative Bank elections were scrutinised, and seven were declared invalid, including those of BJP MLA Suresh Khade and Pooja Patil, wife of MP Vishal Patil. Objections raised against the nominations of MP Vishal Patil, MLA Gopichand Padalkar, MLA Satyajit Deshmukh and Anita Sagare were dismissed, and their nominations were declared valid.
A total of 351 nominations had been filed for the bank's 21 seats. After scrutiny, seven were rejected and 295 remain valid. Attention now turns to the withdrawal process.
Khade had filed nominations from both the society constituency and the Scheduled Castes constituency. Objections were raised over the duration of his membership and the documents attached to his papers. After scrutiny and a hearing, both his nominations were rejected, and he is out of the contest. It remains to be seen whether Khade will take legal action against the decision.
Pooja Patil's nomination from the Miraj society constituency was objected to over the duration of membership and documents, and was rejected. However, her nominations from the women's reserved constituency and the urban banks and credit societies constituency were found valid, so she remains a candidate.
Former MLA Vikramsinh Sawant and Sujay Shinde, former chairman of the market committee, had objected to Padalkar's nomination, questioning his membership and the documents attached to his papers. The returning officer dismissed the objection and declared his nomination valid. Sawant and Shinde have said they will approach the High Court. According to them, Padalkar's nomination was validated on the basis of allegedly incorrect documents. These allegations have not yet been independently examined by a court.
An objection had been raised over the ten-year period of Vishal Patil's tenure as director. It was dismissed, and his nomination was declared valid. Khade has said he will go to court against this decision. It remains to be seen whether Patil's candidature will face a legal challenge.
Deshmukh and Sagare were both objected to on the ground that they were defaulters of a cooperative society. The objections were found to have no substance, so both nominations were declared valid.
The seven candidates whose nominations were rejected are: MLA Suresh Khade, Pooja Vishal Patil, Shilpa Shivaji Patil, Arjun Netaji Kamble, Mahadev Ramana Ankalagi, Kisan Ganpati Jankar and Ramchandra Sakharam Sargar.
Constituency-wise, the service society constituency has 60 nominations for 10 seats. The women's reserved constituency has 16 nominations for 2 seats, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes constituency 28 for 1 seat, and the Other Backward Classes constituency 21 for 1 seat. The Nomadic Tribes constituency has 26 nominations for 1 seat, other agricultural societies 14 for 1 seat, and processing societies 16 for 1 seat. The urban banks and credit societies constituency has 42 nominations for 2 seats, and the labour societies constituency 33 for 2 seats.
Though scrutiny is over, the final picture of the election is not yet clear. The nature of the actual contest will depend on who aligns with whom during withdrawals, who pulls out and which panels are formed. With Vishal Patil, Gopichand Padalkar and Satyajit Deshmukh remaining in the fray, the political contest stays intense. The district is watching in which constituencies the real fights take shape after withdrawals.
