Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Apr 19 (PTI) Nanded Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra has traditionally been a stronghold of the Congress, but after veteran leader Ashok Chavan, who represented the seat twice earlier, snapped ties with the grand old party and joined the BJP, the saffron party appears in a better position to retain the seat.
Although the main contenders in Nanded are Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s sitting MP Pratap Patil Chikhalikar and opposition INDIA bloc candidate Vasant Chavan, the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) is also in the fray as it has fielded Avinash Bhosikar this time.
Nanded, located in Marathwada region of the state, has been a strong fortress of the Congress for a long time. The district gave two chief ministers to Maharashtra – firstly, late Shankarrao Chavan, who held the post twice from 1975 to 1977 and from 1986 to 1988, and then his son Ashok Chavan, who also held the top post two times – from 2008 to 2009 and then 2009 to 2010.
However, Ashok Chavan made his political move in February this year as he quit the grand old party and joined the ruling BJP. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a candidate of the saffron party later that month.
Chavan represented the Nanded Lok Sabha seat twice – in 1987 and 2014. Nanded was one of the two seats that the Congress won in 2014 in Maharashtra, the other being Hingoli.
In 2019, however, Chikhalikar (BJP) defeated Chavan (Congress) from the Nanded seat by a margin of over 40,000 votes.
Chavan, who headed a committee on Maratha reservation during the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, has been facing opposition from the Marathas over the quota issue in Nanded. On Thursday, agitators tried to stop his car here. During the ongoing election campaign, he even had to stop his speech and accept the memorandum of Maratha community members.
Chikhalikar himself has said that with the entry of Chavan into the BJP, the party has grown stronger in Nanded.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently said the induction of Chavan has given a “booster dose” to the BJP in Nanded. He said the development of Nanded and all of Marathwada will gather pace.
This Lok Sabha constituency comprises the assembly segments of Mukhed, Deglur, Naigaon, Bhokar (vacant after Chavan’s resignation), Nanded North and Nanded South. But Kinwat and Hadgaon assembly seats in Nanded district are part of the Hingoli Lok Sabha seat, while Loha in Nanded is part of the Latur parliamentary seat.
“Chavan’s exit from the Congress may impact the party in Nanded, Hingoli and Latur parliamentary seats. but the party is working on that,” a Congress leader said.
In the last Lok Sabha election, VBA candidate Yashpal Bhinge garnered 1.66 lakh votes, which is believed to have impacted the Congress’s chances.
Election to this seat will be held on April 26 and there are 23 candidates in the fray from this seat.
Talking to PTI, Nanded-based veteran journalist Sanjeev Kulkarni said, “Traditionally, elections in Nanded were a fight between Ashok Chavan and others. There was sympathy for Chavan till now, but that does not seem to be the case now as his decision to quit Congress and join BJP led to disgruntlement among the voters, especially from the rural parts of Nanded.” The Maratha agitation factor is also at play and BJP’s Chikhalikar may face more losses as compared to his rival candidate from the Congress, he said, adding that anti-incumbency will also impact.
“The VBA candidate belongs to the OBC community. The OBC voters in Nanded have traditionally supported the BJP, but this time the votes may get divided,” he said.
Another journalist Vishwanath Deshmukh said, “There is disappointment among the Maratha youth over the reservation issue. Candidates from the two main parties are strong, but the Congress seems to be lacking in its management, while BJP may lose Dalit and Muslim votes despite Ashok Chavan joining the party.” There are a total of 18,51,843 eligible voters in Nanded Lok Sabha seat, of whom 9,55,084 are male, 8,96,617 female and 142 are transgenders. There are 15,667 persons with disabilities who are eligible to vote, an official said.
A total of 2,062 polling booths will be set up in Nanded. Out of them, 16 polling booths will be managed entirely by women, according to the official. PTI AW NP
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