Ram Shinde vs Rohit Pawar showdown likely in Karjat-Jamkhed constituency

Ram Shinde, a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) and well-known leader from the Dhangar community, was declared the BJP’s candidate for the Karjat-Jamkhed assembly seat in Ahmednagar district on Sunday. This announcement has set up a fierce battle against Rohit Pawar, sitting MLA and grandnephew of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar.
Shinde, known for his close ties with deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, expressed his gratitude to the BJP.
“I am thankful to the party for giving me this opportunity. I am confident that we will wrest the seat back from the NCP (SP),” said Shinde.
Sharad Pawar in a recent public meeting in Karjat had indicated that Rohit will be the party’s nominee for the upcoming assembly polls scheduled on November 20.
In the 2019 assembly elections, Rohit defeated Shinde by a significant margin of 43,347 votes. Rohit secured 135,824 votes, while Shinde garnered 92,477. Following the defeat, Shinde was appointed to the legislative council, and his re-entry into the assembly race is being seen as a significant move by the BJP.
Apart from Rohit and Shinde, Arun Jadhav from the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) is also contesting from Karjat-Jamkhed, while Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil is yet to announce his decision regarding the constituency.
Shinde, who has won three elections from Karjat-Jamkhed, is now being positioned as the BJP’s new Other Backward Class (OBC) face, especially in this drought-prone region.
Despite having two MLAs, key issues like water scarcity and unemployment persist in the constituency.
Recently, a long-standing demand for a separate Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) unit to address unemployment was approved just a day before the announcement of the model code of conduct. The state government cleared the Kombhali-Khandavi MIDC project, covering 256 hectares of land in Karjat. This could help BJP’s narrative as the area is known to be a stronghold of Shinde.
Rohit, who had been pushing for the establishment of an MIDC in the Pategaon-Khandal area, even held a protest during the assembly session to demand action. Industries minister Uday Samant had then taken notice of Rohit’s protest and assured him that steps would be taken.
However, Shinde accused Rohit of courting investors like Nirav Modi, framing the BJP’s push for the new MIDC project as a critical factor that could sway voters in the upcoming elections.
With the Lok Sabha elections on the horizon, the Karjat-Jamkhed race may also become a reflection of the larger OBC-Maratha dynamics at play in the state. The roles of activists like Jarange-Patil and Laxman Hake could prove decisive in this contest.
The BJP’s strategic focus on this seat, combined with Rohit’s attempts to counter the narrative, promises an intense electoral battle here.