5-cornered contest for Palghar assembly seat

With the Congress nominating former minister Rajendra Gavit as its candidate for the Palghar Assembly byelection, it will be an uphill task for Shiv Sena candidate Amit Ghoda to retain the seat of his father Krishna Ghoda, who died while in office.

Mr Ghoda’s problems have been aggravated with former Shiv Sena leader Manisha Nimkar’s planning to contest the election on the ticket of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA), a local coalition led by Vasai-Virar strongman Hitendra Thakur.

Late Krishna Ghoda had won the Palghar Assembly seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes in October 2014. His son Amit Ghoda is locked in a five-cornered contest for the seat. The byelection is due to be held on February 13, while results will be announced on February 16.

Besides Mr Gavit and Ms Nimkar, Mr Ghoda is facing challenge from Chandrakant Vartha (CPI-M) and Dileep A. Dumada (Bahujan Mukti Party).

Though Mr Ghoda had a wide network of Shiv Sainiks across the constituency, Ms Nimkar has the support of BVA leader Mr Thakur, with the Vasai-Virar belt being his stronghold. According to Amit Ghoda, the BVA has no presence in the Palghar region and Ms Nimkar was no threat as she left the Sena a few years ago.