Maharashtra: Congress' Nana Patole projected to lose Sakoli election

As per Republic-Jan Ki Baat's Opinion poll based on on-ground surveys ahead of the elections, the Sakoli seat in Maharashtra is likely to witness Congress leader Nana Patole lose to Parinay Fuke of the BJP.  

Parinay Fuke is a close confidant of CM Fadnavis and was recently inducted as Minister of State in the Maharashtra government. Patole, on the other hand, till recently, held the position of Kisan Congress chief, but quit from his position and dismissed the unit after the Congress' disastrous performance in the Lok Sabha. He had also contested the Lok Sabha polls from Nagpur, where he lost to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

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Maharashtra and Haryana will be going to polls on Monday, October 21, with the counting of the polls set to take place on Thursday, October 24.  

The campaigning for both the states has been going on for a few weeks, with the heavyweights of all parties seeing themselves campaigning for the candidates. PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have been addressing as many as three rallies per day, while the Congress top leadership has been conspicuous by their absence. 

The Indian National Congress has been campaigning hard as well, although the Grand Old Party of Indian politics has been facing some serious internal issues as well as external issues. Internally, many party members have left over the past month few months and the members who are in the party have been subject to some serious infighting, with Sanjay Nirupam and Milind Deora's fight the most talked about. 

READ | Maharashtra: BJP-Sena Could Gain 20 Seats Each, Congress-NCP Nosedive

READ | Haryana: BJP's Babita Phogat's Dadri Fight Likely To Go Down To Wire