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The by-election to the Palghar Parliamentary seat in Maharashtra, which will be held on 28 May, may prove to be a very interesting prelude to the general elections next year.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena are coming face to face in Palghar before they do the same in the 2019 General Elections. At the same time, the Congress and the NCP are allying with each other. Clearly, Palghar is an experiment for these parties, the results of which will help them prepare a strategy for the main battle in 2019.
BJP-Shiv Sena Come Face-to-Face
The Palghar Lok Sabha seat fell vacant due to the sudden demise of BJP MP Chintaman Wanga. In a crafty move, the Shiv Sena offered a ticket to Chintaman’s son Srinivas Wanga, thereby adding to the woes of the BJP.
The BJP, on its part, offered a ticket to former Congress leader Rajendra Gavit – who has a good grip over local leaders and tribal voters – to reduce Shiv Sena's edge, even if that means that the party had to face criticism over this.
Congress-NCP Join Hands
The Congress has nominated Damodar Shingada as its candidate. The agreement between the Congress and the NCP has happened at leisure. If Palghar is with the Congress, then the NCP candidate will claim the Bhandara Gondia constituency.
In addition to these three parties, Bahujan Vikas Ahladi, which has a good foothold in the Palghar Lok Sabha constituency, also declared that they will win the by-election.
Of the six assembly seats of Palghar, three MLAs are from the Bahujan Vikas Phahadi.
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