Maharashtra: Congress leader makes a U-turn, backs prohibition in Chandrapur district

The sitting MLA from Brahmpuri is known to have openly opposed the liquor ban announced by the BJP-Sena government in 2015. Prohibition was imposed in the district as a part of the poll promise by BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar during the 2014 Assembly elections.

Vijay Wadettiwar is pitted against Sandip Gaddamwar of the Shiv Sena, who crossed over to the party recently from the NCP, and AAP’s Paromita Goswami.

Wadettiwar, who had pitched strongly for liquor trader Suresh Dhanorkar as the Congress candidate from Chandrapur in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, said, “I was never opposed to it. All I had said was either make it successful or otherwise withdraw it. If we are unable to do it in six months, we will withdraw it.”

While Wadettiwar has claimed that he has “no challenger” in the constituency, his calibrated response to prohibition indicates how Goswami can’t be written off. Referring to the AAP candidate, Wadettiwar said, “She is helping the BJP-Sena alliance. She should be targeting the government, but has she ever criticised the BJP in her speeches? On the contrary, she is targeting the Opposition leader like me.”

The Congress, he said, would win up to 75 seats in the state, about 18-22 of them from Vidarbha itself. “The NCP will do well in west Maharashtra. Together, we will be able to form the government,” he added.