Newsmaker | Congress’s lone Lok Sabha MP from Maharashtra, Suresh Dhanorkar was a mass leader

Following Dhanorkar’s death in Delhi on Tuesday, the Congress will not have a Lower House member from the state for the first time since Independence.

The Chandrapur MP was among the rare breed of modern-day politicians who can be labelled as mass leaders. (Source: Twitter/@BalubhauOffice)

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The Congress’s lone Lok Sabha member from Maharashtra, Suresh Dhanorkar, earned the tag of a giant killer when he defeated BJP heavyweight and former Union Minister of State (Home) Hansraj Ahir by more than 55,000 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. With his death, the Congress won’t have a parliamentarian from the state in the Lok Sabha for the first time since independence.

The Chandrapur MP was among the rare breed of modern-day politicians who can be labelled as mass leaders. He had control over his constituency and the ability to influence the party’s fortunes in at least two more Assembly seats. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alluded to this in his condolence message, calling Dhanorkar a grassroots leader.

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Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan who was instrumental in bringing the 48-year-old Dhanorkar over from the Shiv Sena in 2019 said, “We have lost a mass leader at a very early age at a time when his political career was shaping up. It is a personal loss to me and I share the grief with his family,” said Chavan.

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Dhanorkar, also known as Balu, unsuccessfully contested the Warora-Bhadravati Assembly seat on a Shiv Sena ticket in the 2009 elections. Five years later, he won the constituency for the party. With the Chandrapur Lok Sabha constituency in the BJP’s control, the Sena, then its ally, was not going to contest it. But Dhanorkar wanted the ticket and when the Congress offered it he jumped ship.

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His entry into the Congress was nothing less than dramatic. After Dhanorkar joined the party, he was initially denied the Chandrapur ticket because of infighting in the party. Dhanorkar’s candidature was announced at the last minute after the state Congress leadership stepped in. This intervention proved vital as Dhanorkar ended up being the only candidate to win a Lok Sabha seat for the party from Maharashtra.

The MP was from the Kunbi community, which is categorised in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. He often landed in controversies over allegations of association with the liquor lobby in Chandrapur, a district where the Devendra Fadnavis government banned alcohol. He was instrumental in raising demands to revoke the ban. Dhanorkar also had a feud with local Congress strongman and former minister Vijay Vadettiwar.

The 48-year-old MP had undergone an operation related to kidney stones in Nagpur on May 26. He was airlifted to Delhi’s Medanta Hospital following complications that arose during the operation. His death on Tuesday came two days after his father passed away. Dhanorkar is survived by his wife Pratibha Dhanorkar, who is a Congress MLA from the Warora-Bhadravati Assembly constituency, and two sons.