In Karad South, he is fondly addressed as “baba”, even by opponents. With the elections just a week away, former CM Prithviraj Chavan is spending most of his time in his constituency. Even though he has to campaign for other party candidates, Chavan returns to Karad soon after addressing a rally elsewhere. The Indian Express caught up with him on Monday. Chavan, who was supposed to land at Karad airport at 9 am, arrived an hour late. He was received by party colleagues Anand Patil and Bhai Jagtap. After a quick chat with them, Chavan left the airport. It was 11 am when Chavan reached Karve village. The atmosphere seemed to be festive, with youngsters breaking into a jig and renting the air with slogans in his favour, and women rushing forth to apply tilak on his forehead. The convoy then snaked through the tattered roads, with Chavan peering out of his vehicle, waving to the crowd. Not all of them, however, seemed to be taken in by the grand road show. “Why should I vote for him? He comes only once in a while,” said B Mane, a villager. At 11.45 am, Chavan’s entourage headed towards Kadoli village, where a similar scene was replayed. But as he briskly walked down the road, the village offered an unusual scene for the man who was chief minister till a few days ago. At least 25 youngsters were sitting outside a closed shop. They remained seated as Chavan waved to them. In fact, some of them looked in the opposite direction, while a few closed their eyes. When this correspondent sought to know the reason for their behaviour, one of them said: “Why should we show respect to him? He has not done anything for us. He has hardly visited this place. Whatever progress this village has seen, it is because of sitting MLA Vikaskaka Patil-Undalkar,” says Laxman Patil, 25. “The biggest thing that Undalkar did for us was implementing the water plan, because of which we now get enough water for drinking and for our farms,” said Neelkanth Patil, another villager. According to Laxman Patil, of the 4,200 voters in the village, 1,100 won’t vote for Chavan. Before leaving Kadoli, Chavan’s convoy stopped at Dhangarwada where an old man, held up by a few locals, offered him a stick and “ghongdi” (blanket). Chavan held the stick aloft to the crowd’s delight. Here, Chavan just said: “I have already taken up the proposal of ST (Scheduled Tribe) reservation for the Dhangar community.”
