Dynasty Watch

Whoever wins in the Sangli Lok Sabha seat, in the heart of Maharashtra's famed sugar belt -- the Congress, NCP or BJP -- it will once aga...

Whoever wins in the Sangli Lok Sabha seat, in the heart of Maharashtra8217;s famed sugar belt 8212; the Congress, NCP or BJP 8212; it will once again be a victory for the tradition of dynastic succession.

Here Maharashtra Minister for Social Welfare Anna Dange8217;s son, Chiman Dange BJP, is pitted against two other star sons: Madan Patil NCP, son of veteran Congressman Vishnuanna Patil, who was till recently Chairman of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank, and Prakash Patil Congress, son of Vasantdada Patil, Chief Minister for four terms.

Though Chiman is not a political greenhorn 8212; he is an office-bearer of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, youth wing of the BJP, and a municipal council member 8212; it is his maiden attempt to enter the Lok Sabha.

Both Madan and Prakash have represented the Sangli constituency in the past. Madan defeated Anna, Chiman8217;s father, in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections while Prakash was elected from here in 1991. Besides being a politician of long standing, Prakash is also Chairman ofthe Vasantdada Cooperative Sugar Factory, one of the biggest cooperative sugar factories in the country.

Chiman Dange8217;s candidature has an interesting twist. While most politicians have promoted their sons and daughters in well-nursed constituencies, Chiman alias Rajendra, has to fight the Congress 8212; and its new variant, NCP 8212; in the sugar belt bastion of the party. For Sangli and neighbouring villages, Chiman is the government, be it transfers in the district or sanctioning of schools or colleges.

As he faces two two well-entrenched sons of sugar barons, Chiman will perhaps take heart from father Anna8217;s track record. A trusted RSS man, Anna took on the Congress in the heart of the sugar belt 16 years ago. His colleagues recount how Dange, who belongs to the backward Dhangar caste, was ridiculed by the Marathas, the most powerful political group in the state and one that thirsts for control of Mantralaya seat of the government. For a Dhangar to break into the fiefdoms of many of these sugar dons wasnothing short of revolutionary.

Not much has changed. Western Maharashtra remains a Congress bastion, the efforts of the Shiv Sena-BJP to muscle in and buy its way having made little headway. That is why Anna, who has always been a member of the legislative council, was reluctant to contest for the Lok Sabha this time and the candidate for this seat was one of the last to be declared by the BJP.

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But Chiman will be banking heavily on one factor: how effectively Madan and Prakash undercut each other because of the split in the Congress. His father had lost this seat to Madan by only 14,000 votes in 1998.

8211;Pranati Mehra