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Journalism of Courage
Ahead of filing nominations for the Lok Sabha elections, both sitting MP Sujay Vikhe-Patil and Nilesh Lanke—who quit as Parner MLA and left the NCP led by Ajit Pawar to join the NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar—have embarked on a vigorous campaign to garner support from voters in Ahmednagar (Ahilyanagar).
Be it actively participating in religious events, celebrating party workers’ birthday celebrations to even engaging in verbal sparring matches, both Vikhe-Patil and Lanke are not leaving any stone unturned to clinch success at the polls.
Lanke told The Indian Express that he has started a door-to-door campaign to meet villagers from April 1. “It is all about meeting people and addressing their concerns. We are often told by our supporters that this village will fetch more than 70 per cent of votes and another will get 80 per cent votes. But I want to personally visit each village and meet the people and take their blessings,” said Lanke.
Close to visiting 300 villages as part of his Swabhiman Jan Samvad Yatra, Lanke said he would complete his tour by April 19 and is expected to file his nomination for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections by April 23.
On Vikhe-Patil’s recent challenge to him to list any of his achievements in the constituency in English or Hindi, Lanke pointed out that one need not be fluent in the language to be able to accomplish major tasks. In an indirect reference to Sujay Vikhe-Patil being a doctor (neurosurgeon), Lanke said, “I am like Munnaibhai MBBS…my aim is to win people’s hearts.” He also pointed out how he helped more than 33,000 people during the Covid-19 pandemic.
If Lanke’s team has been making visits to various villages and religious fairs and sharing across social media platforms, then Vikhe-Patil’s team has also been actively engaged in listing the sitting MP’s achievements during his five-year tenure.
“Sujay Vikhe-Patil starts his day at 6am…He meets people in booths and public meetings and urges people to judge him by the work that he has done in Ahmednagar,” Vikhe-Patil’s supporters closely involved in the campaign told The Indian Express.
Vikhe-Patil ensures that he visits and closely interacts with booth workers and guides them on how best the works done in Ahmednagar should reach people. At a large motorcycle rally and gathering at Shrigonda, Ahmednagar, Vikhe-Patil told workers to ignore the Opposition claims and refrain from commenting on them.
“As guided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, the focus should be on works done for the people in the constituency and the welfare schemes that have been implemented for people’s benefit,” Vikhe-Patil said. At various meetings, supporters have also captured videos and images of people wanting a ‘selfie’ with Vikhe-Patil to upload on their channel.
