Lok Sabha elections: After split in NCP, Bhandara-Gondia to be a litmus test for Congress in Maharashtra
The Congress is fielding a candidate in Bhandara-Gondia after 25 years. The change in strategy was adopted after NCP’s senior leader and former union minister Praful Patel parted ways with Sharad Pawar to join Deputy CM-led Ajit Pawar faction.
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Until the split, the face of Congress-NCP combine in Bhandara-Gondia, the paddy belt of Vidarbha was Praful Patel. (Photo: X/@praful_patel)After 25 years, the Congress has fielded a candidate, Prashant Padole, in the Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha constituency in eastern Vidarbha region. The BJP has fielded sitting MP Sunil Mendhe from the seat.
In the last 25 years, the Congress always played the role of an alliance partner, leaving the Bhandara-Gondia constituency to the undivided NCP led by Sharad Pawar, with senior leader and former Union minister Praful Patel becoming the face of the Congress-NCP in Bhandara-Gondia. After the split in the NCP, Patel has aligned with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s faction.
Having fielded a candidate this time, Bhandara-Gondia, which is the paddy belt of Vidarbha, will be a litmus test for the Congress.
Initially, the AICC wanted MPCC president Nana Patole to contest from Bhandara-Gondia. Patole represents the Sakoli Assembly seat in Bhandara district. He was seen as a strong candidate to take on BJP’s sitting MP Sunil Mendhe.
However, Patole refused as he is already burdened with the responsibility of party affairs in entire Maharashtra. As a result, the Congress decided to field Padole, who is from Sakoli in Bhandara district and a distant relative of Patole.
With Praful Patel joining Ajit Pawar’s NCP, Sharad Pawar’s NCP is no longer a force to reckon with in this constituency. In such a situation, the Congress putting up a fight against the BJP seemed the best course.
Since 1999, when Sharad Pawar formed the NCP after parting ways with the Congress, Bhandara-Gondia has always seen a fight between the BJP and NCP. Patel, who was in the Congress, shifted to the NCP in 1999.
With both sides making Bhandara-Gondia a prestigious seat, both the Congress and Ajit Pawar’s NCP are aggressively campaigning in the seat.
The state and Centre’s initiative for paddy farmers coupled with expediting the Gosikhurd dam project to ensure irrigation in 2.5 lakh hectares of land in eastern Vidarbha are among the concrete measures cited by local BJP leaders to woo voters. On the other hand, the Congress is talking about farmers’ crisis and unemployment.
In earlier decades, since its formation in 1951, Bhandara-Gondia was a Congress stronghold. From 1951 to 1998, it was majorly represented by the Congress. The exceptions were in year 1954 when Ashok Mehta of Praja Socialist Party won. In 1977, Laxmanrao Mankar of Janata Party won.
Former Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel represented Bhandara-Gondia as a Congress MP in 1991, 1996 and 1998. Later, as an undivided NCP MP, he represented the constituency in 2009.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, when Modi wave swept the nation, Patel lost to then BJP’s Nana Patole. In 2017, Patole quit the BJP. He was the first BJP MP who publicly voiced dissent agsinst the Modi government’s policies. His resignation necessitated by-polls in 2018. NCP candidate Madhu Kukde defeated BJP’s Hemant Patle in the by-elections. This was a rude shock to the BJP. In 2019, the BJP fielded Sunil Mendhe. He defeated NCP’s Nana Panchbuddhe.
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