When it comes to winning an election, it’s difficult to predict which promises will swing the voters. But when a large chunk of the electorate comprises young people yearning to get married, a promise to find suitable brides might just work.

This is what NCP (SP) candidate Rajesaheb Deshmukh, pitted against NCP (Ajit Pawar)’s Dhananjay Munde in Parli (District Beed) constituency, may have had in his mind when he asked about prospective grooms at one of his rallies.

The promise by Deshmukh could fetch at least a few hundred votes given the paucity of ‘marriage material’ in the constituency. Parli and nearby areas have hundreds of unmarried youths who find it unable to receive attractive marriage proposals, say locals.

“Parli and nearby areas have no industries, no new investments. This is forcing the unemployed youths to look for jobs and work. The problem is so grave that they hardly receive any proposals for marriages, Deshmukh told The Free Press Journal.

Almost all cooperative institutions and industries in the region have closed down. The state government has stopped giving approvals for new schools, which can open doors for the recruitment of new teachers. The problem of unemployment is increasing by each day, Deshmukh said.

“The problem is not confined to Parli but nearby areas as well. My first task would be to force the state government to restart closed cooperative institutions such as sugar factories and spinning mills, and pump in funds to restart industrial units,” he said, adding only then will youths get jobs and opportunities to start their businesses.

Attacking his rival candidate, Deshmukh said cooperative units such as Vaidyanath Cooperative Sugar Mill, Ambajogai Sugar Mill and Pannageshwar Sugar Industries are in the red since no efforts were made by the minister. He could not run the Sant Jagmitra Naga Spinning Mill he launched a few years back, he said.