Controversy over dynasty politics has marred the fight to retain the only remaining 'red bastion' in western Maharashtra. The left-wing Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) has won a record number of 11 terms from Sangola in Solapur district, thanks to nonagenarian MLA Ganpatrao Deshmukh.

However, recently, when the ageing Deshmukh, fondly known as Aabasaheb, announced that he wouldn't fight another election, and nominated a local industrialist, Bhausaheb Rupnar, as the official candidate of PWP, the party witnessed a minor revolution. Workers staged a sit-in agitation at the 93-year-old MLA's home for three days, demanding that he file the nomination, instead of the businessman, who they claimed was unpopular among the masses. But the veteran refused, reiterating that he was too old for yet another term. While Deshmukh's son Chandrakant, who also harboured political ambitions, was in the fray, PWP workers weren't too convinced about him. Eventually, Deshmukh's 27-year-old grandson Dr Aniket Deshmukh, a post-graduate student of orthopaedics in Pune, was named the worthy successor to fight the election on the party ticket.