The candidature of Vanchit Vikas Aghadi and Prakash Ambedkar has added colour to upcoming Lok Sabha election at the Solapur constituency, which will record a triangular contest of sorts. Congress veteran Sushilkumar Shinde and BJP's surprise candidate Dr Siddheshwar Shivacharya Mahaswami will be fighting it out with Ambedkar for this poll season.
The Solapur Lok Sabha constituency has been dominated by the Congress and after the formation of Maharashtra in 1960, the Congress has won this seat 11 times while the BJP has won it only four times. Out of a total of over 17 lakh voters, 15 per cent consists of Muslims, 13 per cent goes to the scheduled castes and 50 per cent goes to THE OBC, as well as VJNT population. Lingayats have a sizeable population and that is the reason the BJP has fielded Siddheshwar Mahaswami in the fray. Even though there is no caste-based census available, Lingayat voters are nearly 2.5 lakh in number and would prove to be decisive. Muslims constitute 2 lakh among voters while the Marathi-speaking population from Solapur city has always backed the BJP. There are Marathi, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada-speaking people in Solapur since it is close to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.