Kolhapur's Election Fever Peaks on Final Campaign Day
The streets of Kolhapur city buzzed with intense political activity on the last day of campaigning. Candidates and their supporters held huge rallies, appealing directly to voters for support on polling day. These large gatherings led to major traffic congestion across the city, causing significant inconvenience for daily commuters.
Colorful Streets and Hectic Schedules
Party flags and election symbols turned the cityscape into a vibrant display of political colors. Ruturaj Kshirsagar, a candidate from Ward 7, described the frantic pace. "The last day of the campaign was absolutely hectic," he said. "We didn't even get time for a proper lunch. We just grabbed vada-pavs and tried to cover every single lane and road in our ward."
Voters Voice Concerns Over Neglected Issues
Meanwhile, many voters expressed frustration that basic civic problems remained unaddressed during the campaigns. Manali Patil, a voter from Ward 10, highlighted this disconnect. "While the city faces severe issues like lack of public toilets, parking problems, irregular garbage pick-up, poor roads, and the merger of fringe villages, almost all political parties focused only on topics like Ladki Bahin, Circuit Bench, and direct pipelines," she explained. "The only difference was some spoke in support and some against. The major issues affecting residents stayed completely neglected."
Background: A Long-Awaited Election Process
After the Kolhapur municipal corporation elections were declared on December 15, aspirants who had waited for five years sprang into action. Each political party saw between 100 to 700 aspiring candidates. Even before filing their election forms, these hopefuls began door-to-door campaigning. Once ward-wise reservations were announced, several campaigned actively for their wives, daughters, or sons, depending on the specific reservation categories.
Candidate Selection Sparks Rebellion
Office-bearers from both the Mahayuti alliance and MVA partners faced a tough challenge selecting just 81 candidates for the 20 wards. This process triggered large-scale rebellion during the filing of forms, with over 900 forms submitted by eager aspirants. The turmoil continued as several candidates rebelled openly, while others switched parties entirely.
Political Alliances Take Shape
While the Mahayuti parties managed to stay united, the MVA coalition saw changes. It was left with only Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) as partners. The NCP (SP) formed a third-front alliance with AAP and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. Additionally, the Jan Surajya Shakti party created a fourth-front alliance with RPI.
High-Profile Campaigning Efforts
Several prominent leaders campaigned vigorously for their respective alliances. For the Mahayuti candidates, the campaign featured:
- Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis
- Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde
- Ministers Chandrakant Patil, Hasan Mushrif, and Prakash Abitkar
- State planning commission head MLA Rajesh Kshirsagar
- MP Dhananjay Mahadik
For the MVA alliance, campaigning largely relied on the leader of opposition for Congress in the legislative council, MLC Satej Patil. Former minister Balasaheb Thorat and Congress state president Harshwardhan Sapkal addressed a few rallies in the city, adding their voices to the final push.
