The candidature of Ashok Chavan from Nanded, a bastion of the Congress loyalist Chavan family, in the backdrop of Adarsh housing society controversy brought the district of Marathwada on the national news scene. His fate this time hangs between the Modi factor and anti-incumbency against the family on one had and the benefit of control over six Assembly seats on the other. The Nanded Lok Sabha seat has been held by Chavan’s family members since 1980 when his father late Shankarrao Chavan was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980 and 1984. He was also a minister at the Centre. Ashok Chavan himself was elected in the 1987 byelection after Shankarrao resigned. After that, except for one term when current BJP candidate D B Patil was the MP, the seat has been held by Chavan’s brother-in-law Bhaskarrao Patil Khatgaonkar. Interestingly, Chavan’s nomination for the seat was announced very late amid speculation due to the controversy over the Adarsh scam. In a latest development, he has been asked to appear before the Election Commission for allegedly giving incorrect accounts of his poll expenses during the 2009 Assembly elections. A complaint in this regard was filed by Dr Madhavrao Kinhalkar, who had contested against him for the Bhokar Assembly seat. “All six Assembly seats under Nanded Lok Sabha constituency are currently with the Congress-NCP alliance. The LS seat was also held by Khatgaonkar. Hence, there is a major anti-incumbency factor acting against Chavan. The rally by Narendra Modi in Nanded had a historic attendance. Both these factors may act against him,” said a veteran social worker from Nanded who has been associated with the Chavan family since Shankarrao’s time. He added: “But we also cannot ignore that all six Congress-NCP MLAs have put in all the efforts, money and machinery behind Chavan’s campaign. And this will act in Chavan’s favour.” On the other hand, Nanded has over 12 per cent Muslim population, which has always been a decisive factor in the elections. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by a very vocal Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi did not field its candidate from Nanded. This, according to local leaders, will keep the Muslim votes almost undivided in favour of the Congress.
