A day after he resigned as Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan filed his nomination papers from the key constituency of South Karad in Satara district on Saturday.
The seat, a traditional Congress bastion since the formation of Maharashtra in 1960, is set to witness a complex five-way battle in the October 15 Assembly election with disgruntled Congress leaders throwing down the gauntlet to Mr. Chavan.
“Not only South Karad, but all of Western Maharashtra will be retained as a Congress stronghold,” said Mr. Chavan, while leading a massive rally through the streets of the constituency.
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Chavan dubbed the allegations made by the Nationalist Congress Party as “laughable.”
“Anyone can obtain information on how many files were cleared during my tenure using the RTI Act… the NCP’s contention that I was slow in clearing files is ludicrous, to say the least,” he said remarking that it was the party’s “utterly impossible demands” which resulted in the final rupture of the Democratic Front coalition in Maharashtra.
Daunting taskMr. Chavan, who is contesting for the first time since his Lok Sabha election defeat from Karad in 1999, faces an especially daunting foe in seven-time MLA Vilas Patil Undalkar, popularly known as Kaka.
Embittered by Mr. Chavan’s decision to step into the electoral arena, the 76-year-old Mr. Patil, who has held South Karad since 1980, filed his papers as an Independent on Friday, paving the way for a Congress versus Congress fight.
“His door-to-door connect with his voters is tremendous. His win is a foregone conclusion,” says Dhanaji Katkar, a close aide to Mr. Undalkar.
Further queering Mr. Chavan’s pitch is former Congress leader and sugar baron Atul Bhosale, who is contesting on the Bharatiya Janata Party ticket, and Ajeenkya Patil, son of veteran Congress leader and current Bihar Governor D.Y. Patil, making his political debut on the Shiv Sena ticket.
“Despite our familial affiliation with the Congress, I was attracted towards the Sena’s programme for a better Maharashtra,” said Mr. Patil, an educationist and Chairman of the D.Y. Patil group, while filing his papers on Friday.
Following the coalition break-up, the NCP has propped up former Congress corporator Rajendra Yadav against Mr. Chavan.
“The NCP, which is baying for Mr. Chavan’s blood, will also throw its weight behind Mr. Undalkar,” says Sachin Shinde, a political analyst.
Despite hectic campaigning, Mr. Chavan suffers from a disconnect with voters in the constituency prior to his taking over as Maharashtra Chief Minister in 2010. It could prove to be a debilitating factor, say sources.
However, Mr. Chavan’s supporters aver that public works, amounting to more than Rs. 300 crore, taken up during his tenure as Chief Minister would have a tremendous impact on voters.
“Mr. Chavan’s reputation as a sound and honest administrator will see the Congress through. His decision to contest has enthused Karad’s public,” said Anandrao Patil, Satara District Congress Committee president.
At the same time, despite his much-vaunted confidence, Mr. Undalkar’s position is not as smooth as is made out to be, say observers.
“While he [Mr. Undalkar] is undeniably charismatic, his politics has fundamentally been that of divide and rule. Further, Mr. Chavan, despite his critics, has sincerely striven to develop Karad,” says Mr. Shinde.
