It’s a clear sign that the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) want to take no chances in the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra. They have fielded six State Ministers, three from each. Both wanted heavyweights to contest, banking on their “winnability.”
The NCP has fielded Cabinet Ministers Chhagan Bhujbal (Public Works) and Sunil Tatkare (Water Resources) and Minister of State for Rehabilitation Suresh Dhas. The Congress is fielding Cabinet Ministers Shivajirao Moghe (Social Justice) and Sanjay Devtale (Environment) and Minister of State for Tribal Welfare Rajendra Gavit.
“It’s an obvious sign that the Congress and the NCP are nervous about the coming elections,” BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari says.
Mr. Bhujbal is contesting from Nasik in his first Lok Sabha election. The move, many feel, is an attempt to move him to national politics to leave the Maharashtra turf to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, nephew of party chief Sharad Pawar. They do not see eye to eye with each other. Mr. Bhujbal’s nephew Sameer Bhujbal is the sitting MP from the constituency. “The party asked me to contest and I took up the challenge. Nothing more should be read into it,” Mr. Bhujbal says.
Mr. Tatkare, a close aide of Mr. Ajit Pawar, will contest the Raigad seat against five-time Shiv Sena MP Anant Geete. Mr. Tatkare is a four-time MLA from the region. The seat was earlier with the Congress, a pocket-borough of the former Chief Minister, A.R. Antulay, who is reportedly upset that it has been given to the NCP without his consent.
In Beed, Mr. Dhas will take on veteran BJP leader Gopinath Munde. Mr. Dhas, a three-time MLA from the region, had switched from the BJP to the NCP.
“We are simply fielding the best man for the job. It has nothing to do with them being Ministers. In any case, Suresh Dhas was given a Ministry only six months ago. He is a party worker,” NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik says.
The Congress, meanwhile, has settled internal disputes by fielding Mr. Moghe from the Yavatmal-Washim constituency in Vidarbha. State Congress chief Manikrao Thakre had been demanding the ticket for his son.
The Congress has Mr. Devtale, a four-time MP from the area, from Chandrapur. But he is going to have a tough time quelling the discontent from the faction loyal to sitting MP Naresh Pugalia. The Congress has fielded Mr. Gavit from Palghar. However, it will not be an easy contest from here either.
Mr. Gavit will face a candidate not only from the BJP but also the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi. In this situation, support from the NCP will be crucial. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has admitted this will not be an easy election.
“If the Congress and the NCP do not put our best foot forward, we could face the threat of a better performance by communal parties,” he told journalists at a recent interaction.
