Wary of BJP, Cong gives Nagpur seat to RPI

NAGPUR, Jan 2: In a significant development, the Congress is reported to have agreed for leaving the prestigious Nagpur-Kamptee Lok Sabha se...

NAGPUR, Jan 2: In a significant development, the Congress is reported to have agreed for leaving the prestigious Nagpur-Kamptee Lok Sabha seat in favour of the R S Gavai-led Republican Party of India (RPI) during the mid-term polls, scheduled February next.

The Congress’ decision apparently stems from an electoral alliance it has struck with the RPI and means, the party would not be contesting the seat for the first time in the history of Lok Sabha elections.

By and large, the move is being attributed to the Congress’ failure to identify a strong candidate, within its own ranks, who would be capable of holding fort against the resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the region. Besides, the leadership’s inability to nip hostile ticket aspirants in the bud.

Against the backdrop of a humiliating defeat in the last Lok Sabha polls, Congress leaders here had insisted that senior leader and Ramtek MP Datta Meghe be given the ticket to contest the Nagpur seat. However, when Meghe refused the offer, they turned to Congress MLA from East Nagpur Satish Chaturvedi who also followed suit.

Having interviewed the likes of former Union Minister Vilas Muttemwar, former Congress city unit president Gev Awari, former MLA Avinash Pande, and INTUC leader S Q Zama, the party leadership reportedly reached the opinion that these candidates would be too weak’ and never be able to match the strength of rival BJP nominee. Especially, in case of the BJP deciding to retain its sitting MP Banwarilal Purohit for the contest.

“We consider Nagpur as the symbol of entire Vidarbha region and a debacle here will mean an adverse effect for the party elsewhere in the region,” the Maratha strongman and senior leader, Sharad Pawar, is reported to have said while emphasising the new strategy. Party leaders feel that the RPI has the support of a large number of voters in Nagpur-Kamptee constituency and even if its candidate stands to lose the electoral battle, the Congress would not be there to take the blame.

The level of confidence among the party workers has hit so low that they almost concede the prospects of Congress meeting its Waterloo at Nagpur in case it opts for contesting the seat.

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Senior RPI leader Jogendra Kawade is being touted to be among the frontrunners for the Congress-RPI alliance candidate from Nagpur-Kamptee, sources revealed. The RPI has already claimed eight seats — Chimur, Solapur, Pandharpur, Amravati, Osmanabad and three in Mumbai — by way of seat adjustments for having extended support to the Congress.

While putting forth the demand, RPI leaders reportedly pointed out that it had contested 12 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra and secured over 1.5 lakh votes in as many as eight constituencies of these. In Nagpur-Kamptee, the RPI mustered more than 1.70 lakh Local RPI sources revealed that the Congress has accepted in principle to give four seats to the RPI (Gavai).