In Ashok Chavan’s home turf, his daughter battles it out with a former aide

Sreejaya claims her grandfather’s work in the irrigation sector revolutionised agriculture in the region. “Nana (Shankarrao) led the district for decades. He built 3,000 big and small structures to ensure water for everyone. Do you think people will forget this? Our family has served people for decades and my candidature is just an extension of the work that my grandfather, father and mother have done in Bhokar,” Sreejaya says.

A lawyer by profession, Sreejaya was touted to be a Congress candidate for the recent Lok Sabha polls after she accompanied party leader Rahul Gandhi in the Nanded leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra but changed sides overnight after her father jumped ship. “There is no question of ditching my father or opposing his political decisions. In Nanded, Ashok Chavan is the party,” she says.

The BJP’s loss in the Nanded Lok Sabha seat came as a wake-up call for the Chavans and coupled with the anger over the Maratha issue, farmer distress over soybean prices, and disgruntlement among his supporters for shifting parties, Sreejaya’s candidature from Bhokar, which many term as a fresh start, is being seen as a calculated risk taken by her father.

The BJP candidate says while her father will focus on infrastructure development in the constituency, she will put her focus on education. “It is a big pressure to live up to the name of the Chavan family,” she says.

The Chavan family has been winning the seat since delimitation in 2008. Before that, Shankarrao won Bhokar thrice — in 1967, 1972 and 1978. But adding to her challenge this time is the fact that some influential Maratha families of former local MLAs Balajirai Gorthekar-Deshmukh, Bapusaheb Gorthekar, and Madhavrao Kinhalkar are now campaigning against her.

A staunch Maratha activist and second-generation Congressman, Patil-Kondekar claims that the region subscribes to the Congress’s ideology and not to any leader. His popularity among the youth and connection across the constituency by virtue of his position in the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) has made him a tough challenger for the Chavans.

Tirupati’s “unorganised” campaign across villages of Bhokar is mostly led by young party workers but his partymen have a word of caution for him. “At a time when he is pitted against a master manager like Ashok Chavan, his campaign has energy but lacks management,” says a local Congress worker.

Voters, however, seem cautious with their words. For instance, Avinash Kshirsagar, who works in a travel company, claims the legacy of the Chavan family cannot be wiped out from Nanded. “But we have always seen the family to be associated with the Congress. It is still difficult for many of us to see him campaign for a different party,” he says.

A soybean farmer from Loha in Nanded, Laxman Gunde is miffed as the demand for hiking MSP to Rs 7,000 per quintal has not been fulfilled. “With rising cultivation costs, it is next to impossible to survive. We are indebted to Chavan saheb but current problems must also be taken into account,” he says. Currently, farmers are being paid around Rs 4,300 per quintal of soybean while the MSP is Rs 4,892.

Another voter and Ashok Chavan’s long-time aide Devanand Dhoot points out that farmers are not happy with the prices being offered for their produce, which they claim is lower than the MSP. “It is a serious issue and that needs to be tackled,” he says.

Shankarrao’s picture is a permanent fixture in all election paraphernalia of the Congress. “We all belong to the legacy bestowed upon us by the great Shankarrao Chavan. His next generation may have taken a wrong step but we are his true ideological heirs,” says Congress MLA Amit Deshmukh, who is leading the party’s campaign in Nanded and Latur.