January 8: If the election campaign launched by senior Republican Party of India (RPI) leader Dyandeo Parasuramkar last week is any indication, then the sprawling rural constituency of Chimur will most likely go to the RPI (Ambedkar faction) in an electoral alliance with the Congress in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.Parasuramkar, a former judicial officer, resigned from government service and plunged into active politics. He contested the Chimur Lok Sabha seat as an RPI candidate in 1996. Although defeated in the triangular contest last time, he managed to secure over 1.60 lakh votes.According to RPI sources here, the Chimur Lok Sabha seat will be given to the RPI (Ambedkar faction) in an electoral adjustment among the secular parties. In a meeting with Congress leaders in Mumbai yesterday, Prakash Ambedkar discussed seat adjustments in the state. A final decision was not taken as Ambedkar sought 12 seats and an equal number of seats were demanded by RPI's R S Gawai-led faction. However, it was more or less agreed that the Chimur seat would be left for the Ambedkar faction, sources said.The Congress is not keen on contesting the elections from Chimur this time as it has failed to identify a formidable candidate to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee. The seat was wrested from the Congress by the BJP nominee, Namdeorao Divte, in the last elections.Former Union minister Vilasrao Muttemwar, who represented the constituency thrice in Parliament, refused to contest from Chimur this time. He is keen on contesting from Nagpur. The sudden withdrawal of Muttemwar from Chimur has demoralised the rank and file of Congress in the constituency and boosted the morale of its rival, BJP. This may explain why the Congress leadership is leaving the seat to RPI.Parasuramkar, who is touring the constituency, is reportedly getting a good response from the people. However, his biggest disadvantage is that he is not a member of the Scheduled Castes. Due to this, the maximum number of Dalits votes went to Congress nominee Muttemwar in the last election even though Parasuramkar contested as a RPI candidate. In view of this, a section of RPI leaders, particularly from Gadchiroli district, insisted that instead of Parasuramkar, a Dalit be given the RPI ticket. They recommended the names of Karanjekar of Sakoli and Yograj Kuthe of Kurkheda. Both are active RPI leaders of the Ambedkar faction. The section also took exception to the launching of an election campaign by Parasuramkar recently especially as his nomination is yet to be finalised. However, Parasuramkar is confident about his nomination as he is very close to RPI supremo Ambedkar. It was Ambedkar who encouraged him to quit the judicial service and join active politics last year.Meanwhile, the RPI (Gavai faction) held a meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday to discuss the strategy for further negotiations with Congress for sharing of seats. Gavai and Ramdas Athawale were authorised to conduct further negotiations and told that they should not settle for less than seven seats. The faction is ready to leave Akola and Chimur seats to the Ambedkar faction but has insisted on being given the Amravati, Chandrapur and Nagpur Lok Sabha seats in the region.
