Two leaders from rival camps and contrasting backgrounds are vying for the legacy of Congress stalwart and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Shankarrao Chavan as they make their electoral debuts from Bhokar, the Chavan household stronghold in Nanded district within the coming polls.
Whereas the BJP has fielded Shankarrao’s granddaughter and Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Chavan’s daughter Sreejaya, the Congress has nominated debutant Tirupati Patil-Kondekar who served because the president of the district youth Congress underneath Ashok Chavan for six years however stayed again when he moved to the BJP forward of the Lok Sabha polls.
“I’m a standard man preventing a battle towards an empire. The land of Bhokar belongs to the Congress ideology and I’m taking the legacy of Shankarrao ahead,” Patil-Kondekar says.
Sreejaya claims her grandfather’s work within the irrigation sector revolutionised agriculture within the area. “Nana (Shankarrao) led the district for many years. He constructed 3,000 large and small buildings to make sure water for everybody. Do you assume individuals will neglect this? Our household has served individuals for many years and my candidature is simply an extension of the work that my grandfather, father and mom have executed in Bhokar,” Sreejaya says.
A lawyer by occupation, Sreejaya was touted to be a Congress candidate for the current Lok Sabha polls after she accompanied celebration chief Rahul Gandhi within the Nanded leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra however modified sides in a single day after her father jumped ship. “There isn’t a query of ditching my father or opposing his political selections. In Nanded, Ashok Chavan is the celebration,” she says.
The BJP’s loss within the Nanded Lok Sabha seat got here as a wake-up name for the Chavans and paired with the anger over the Maratha concern, farmer misery over soybean costs, and disgruntlement amongst his supporters for shifting events, Sreejaya’s candidature from Bhokar, which many time period as a contemporary begin, is being seen as a calculated danger taken by her father.
The BJP candidate says whereas her father will concentrate on infrastructure growth within the constituency, she is going to put her concentrate on training. “It’s a large stress to stay as much as the title of the Chavan household,” she says.
The Chavan household has been successful the seat since delimitation in 2008. Earlier than that, Shankarrao gained Bhokar thrice — in 1967, 1972 and 1978. However including to her problem this time is the truth that some influential Maratha households of former native MLAs Balajirai Gorthekar-Deshmukh, Bapusaheb Gorthekar, and Madhavrao Kinhalkar at the moment are campaigning towards her.
A staunch Maratha activist and second-generation Congressman, Patil-Kondekar claims that the area subscribes to the Congress’s ideology and to not any chief. His reputation among the many youth and connection throughout the constituency by advantage of his place within the Agricultural Produce Advertising and marketing Committee (APMC) has made him a tricky challenger for the Chavans.
Tirupati’s “unorganised” marketing campaign throughout villages of Bhokar is generally led by younger celebration staff however his partymen have a phrase of warning for him. “At a time when he’s pitted towards a grasp supervisor like Ashok Chavan, his marketing campaign has power however lacks administration,” says a neighborhood Congress employee.
Voters, nonetheless, appear cautious with their phrases. For example, Avinash Kshirsagar, who works in a journey firm, claims the legacy of the Chavan household can’t be worn out from Nanded. “However we’ve got at all times seen the household to be related to the Congress. It’s nonetheless tough for many people to see him marketing campaign for a unique celebration,” he says.
A soybean farmer from Loha in Nanded, Laxman Gunde is miffed because the demand for mountain climbing MSP to Rs 7,000 per quintal has not been fulfilled. “With rising cultivation prices, it’s subsequent to not possible to outlive. We’re indebted to Chavan saheb however present issues should even be taken into consideration,” he says. At the moment, farmers are being paid round Rs 4,300 per quintal of soybean whereas the MSP is Rs 4,892.
One other voter and Ashok Chavan’s long-time aide Devanand Dhoot factors out that farmers aren’t proud of the costs being provided for his or her produce, which they declare is decrease than the MSP. “It’s a severe concern and that must be tackled,” he says.
Shankarrao’s image is a everlasting fixture in all election paraphernalia of the Congress. “All of us belong to the legacy bestowed upon us by the good Shankarrao Chavan. His subsequent era could have taken a fallacious step however we’re his true ideological heirs,” says Congress MLA Amit Deshmukh, who’s main the celebration’s marketing campaign in Nanded and Latur.
