Satara may see triangular fight

Aurangabad: The municipal bypoll in Satara constituency is likely to be a triangular fight as aspirants from only three political parties have submitted their nominations.
One candidate each from the Shiv Sena and the Congress and two from the BJP have filed total nine nominations. But sources said one of the BJP candidates will withdraw her nomination, leaving only three candidates in the fray.
Gaikwad Pallavi Manohar (Shiv Sena), Jamadar Sayli Bhagwat (Congress), Pallewar Rajeshree Ramrao (BJP), and Bawaskar Surekha Punjaba (BJP) have filed their papers for the seat reserved for woman belonging to the scheduled tribe category. With Shiv Sena and BJP leaders giving clear signals of avoiding any pre-poll alliance, the election is heading towards a three-cornered fight. In Devali municipal ward, 18 candidates have filed 24 nomination forms. Candidates of all major political parties, including the Shiv Sena, BJP, Congress and the NCP, have filed their papers. Hari Runjaji Hiwade (Shiv Sena), Appasaheb Vinayak Hiwade (BJP), Minakshi Sunil Deshpande (Congress) are in the fray.
After the state government recently abolished Satara-Devlai municipal council and merged it into the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, two new municipal wards have been formed.
The bypolls will be held on April 17, while counting of votes will be held on April 18. The process of filing nominations ended on Tuesday and its scrutiny will be Wednesday. Last date for withdrawal of nomination will be April 1.
There has been an air of inevitability hanging over the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance right from the beginning once the elections to the newly-formed wards were announced.
Despite the fact that the two parties are jointly ruling the corporation for nearly two decades, leaders from both side have been hinting at going solo in the election.