Sibling Rivalry in Mango Belt

Ratnagiri, the heartland of the saffron coloured Alphonso mango will see two brothers in the electoral fray this time as the ‘kingmaker’ now wants to be the metaphorical king. Incumbent minister Uday Samant and his businessman brother Kiran Samant are contesting the polls from neighbouring constituencies.

Hailing from Vengurla, at the southern tip of Sindhudurg, the brothers have made Pali in Ratnagiri their political fiefdom. An astute politician Uday holds the industries portfolio and was among the Shiv Sena leaders who split the party along with Eknath Shinde. Uday, who began his political career with the NCP and later shifted to the Shiv Sena. He’s known as the politician with remarkable ‘timing’—to be on the right side of any opportunity at the best time. Uday made his electoral debut in 2004 and remained an MLA of the NCP until 2014 when he joined the Shiv Sena during the Narendra Modi-led NDA wave. When he realised that the saffron alliance had a higher chance of victory, he switched, but never soured relations with his former party chief or colleagues. In 2014 and 2019, he won the elections from Ratnagiri on a Shiv Sena ticket and was made a minister in the MVA government where he was cabinet minister for higher education and industries. While Uday has held the cabinet portfolio, it is no secret that his older brother Kiran is the one calling the shots, meeting people and addressing their demands on behalf of his brother. When Eknath Shinde and other MLAs were holed up in a hotel in Guwahati, Uday Samant was among the later ones to join the group, after weighing the pros and cons of his decision.

Kiran, better known as Bhaiyya in Ratnagiri, is believed to be the one who has groomed his younger brother for politics and manages the on-ground work for Uday’s elections. A builder, the two brothers run an enterprise. Kiran has been, for long, a political aspirant. The Samant brothers had tried to secure a Lok Sabha nomination for Kiran earlier this year but the BJP picked Narayan Rane instead. It is said that the sulking siblings were miffed by this decision of the party and Rane’s poor showing in Ratnagiri during the parliamentary polls is being attributed to Kiran Samant’s lack of support. While demanding a ticket from Shinde, it is believed that he was even willing to cross over to Shiv Sena (UBT). Kiran has publicly said that this would be his first and last election but would use the next five years to give Rajapur and Lanja a makeover. He’s pitted against Rajan Salvi, a Thackeray loyalist.

With only a few days away for the polls, the powerful Samant brothers are hoping to be in the Maharashtra cabinet together.