Saoner in Nagpur is seeing a face-off between two brothers. Amol and Ashish, both doctors, are contesting against each, one as an Independent and the other as a BJP candidate. The move is likely to confuse the voters who will have two candidates by the same surname and from the same family.
The two are the sons of former senior Congress leader from Nagpur, Ranjeet Arvindbabu Deshmukh who held the position as state unit president of the party on two occasions and has been the president of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC). He was first elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in 1985. During his early days in the Congress, he was known for his good relations with Sanjay Gandhi. In the 1990s, Deshmukh led a campaign demanding statehood for Vidarbha, a demand that occasionally erupts even today.
During his tenure, Deshmukh has held several portfolios such as rural development, education, health, agriculture and textiles. He is known to have pioneered village cleanliness drives and held portfolios in the Congress-led governments in the state for almost two decades.
Both his sons are in politics; his older son Dr Ashish Deshmukh contested from Katol in 2014 on a BJP ticket. He lost the elections from Ramtek in 2019 though. He was later suspended from the Congress for a period of six years for making statements criticising Rahul Gandhi. He has been involved with various social organisations such as Youth for India, no tobacco drives and the Vidarbha Progressive Farmers Association. Ranjeet’s younger son Dr Amol Deshmukh had contested as a member of the NCP. A medical doctor by education, he holds a Masters degree in Management from the UK and had earlier served in government-run health projects in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Nepal.
Now in 2024, the two brothers will contest from Saoner. While Ashish is a nominee of the BJP, Amol is contesting as an Independent after the Congress denied him a ticket. While there is no known rift between the brothers, the decision to contest against each other ensures that at least one member of the family goes to the legislative assembly.
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