COVID WARRIOR CHALLENGES SITTING BJP MP

BJP nominee Dr Sujay Vikhe-Patil and NCP(SP) candidate Nilesh Lanke are locked in a direct contest in the cooperative-rich Ahmednagar Lok Sabha constituency.

The fight between the two is being portrayed as a contest between a member of the Vikhe-Patil family, considered the pioneers of the cooperative movement in Maharashtra and a new face who emerged a 'Covid Warrior' by helping a large number of people during the pandemic.

For Vikhe-Patil it is also a fight to retain the supremacy of his family and the BJP in Ahmednagar district while for Lanke it is an opportunity to emerge as the people's man who can take on mighty and resourceful leaders. Political observers say the fight is also between the traditional rivals Sharad Pawar and Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil. While Lanke comes from a family of farmers, Sujay Vikhe-Patil is the great-grandson of Vitthalrao Vikhe-Patil who is credited with the establishment of Asia's first cooperative sugar factory in Ahmednagar after independence.