Amravati: The Amravati Division Teachers’ Constituency will go to polls on Friday to elect its representative to the Maharashtra Legislative Council.A total of 35,810 voters across Amravati, Akola, Yavatmal, Washim and Buldhana districts will decide the fate of 26 candidates. Voting will be held at 81 polling centres from 8 am to 4 pm through the preferential voting system.While it is officially a contest between Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi, the real fight on the ground is between Congress candidate Aditi Pohare and sitting MLC Kiran Sarnaik of Shiv Sena (Shinde faction).Sarnaik faces a tough challenge from within the ruling alliance. BJP rebels Sangita Shinde, Shekhar Bhoyar and Sumit Pawar, along with Shiv Sena rebel Shrikant Deshpande, are in the fray and are likely to split Mahayuti votes.Pohare, on the other hand, has the backing of her father and former minister Harshwardhan Deshmukh, who heads the Shri Shivaji Education Society — the largest educational institution network in Vidarbha. Her candidature has been further bolstered by Nagpur University Teachers’ Association (NUTA), which has included her in its panel of four candidates.Key issues dominating the campaign are restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and demands of convent and unaided school teachers.In the 2020 election, Sarnaik had won as an Independent with 15,606 votes, including 6,095 first preference votes. He had defeated then sitting MLC Shrikant Deshpande, who polled 9,191 votes with 5,135 first preference votes as the Shiv Sena candidate. BJP’s Dr Nitin Dhande had finished a distant sixth.The constituency had recorded 81.10% turnout in 2020, with 30,918 of the total 38,129 voters exercising their franchise.
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