Vidarbha face-off, Congress survival, BJP prestige at stake

Following the political realignment in the state after the splits in the Shiv Sena and NCP, both the Congress and BJP seem to be wary about which side the current may blow .

Sources in the Congress claim the OBC Kunbi community’s anger with the BJP over “flip-flops” on the Maratha quota issue may work in its favour in Nagpur, Chandrapur and Bhandara-Gondia.

The NDA – comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP – has gone into the polls on the development plank while the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – comprising the Congress, Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) – is trying to rake up issues of growing unemployment.

A direct fight between the Congress and BJP is on the cards in four of the five seats, which have distinct issues ranging from Naxalism to farmer distress.

Incidentally, Chandrapur was the only Lok Sabha seat among the state’s 48 that the grand old party had won five years ago. In an attempt to regain its hold in the region, once seen as the party’s bastion, the Congress deployed its top leaders like former president Rahul Gandhi in Bhandara-Gondia and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge in Nagpur. On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held two rallies – one each in Chandrapur and Ramtek – while Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a rally in Bhandara-Gondia.

In Ramtek, the Shiv Sena’s Raju Parve will take on the Congress’s Shyamkumar Barve, who became the party’s official candidate after his wife Rashmi Barve’s nomination was rejected. The Sena here is also marred by infighting after a section of its leaders claimed that Parve is an “outsider”. In the run-up to the elections, Parve was declared the candidate reportedly after the BJP pressured its ally to drop sitting MP Krupal Tumane.

In Chandrapur, BJP minister Mungantiwar will be up against the Congress’s Pratibha Dhanorkar, the widow of former MP Suresh Dhanorkar, who passed away last year.

Meanwhile, Gadkari, who is seeking his third straight term from Nagpur, will take on Vikas Thakre. Despite the Union minister’s vote share rising by 10 percentage points in the last election as compared to 2014, Congress insiders believe that the party stands a chance as people have increasingly been talking about local issues.

In Bhandara-Gondia, seen to be the paddy belt of the region, sitting BJP MP Sunil Mendhe will lock horns with Prashant Padole of the Congress, which has fielded a candidate here for the first time in 25 years. The seat almost always fell in the undivided NCP’s kitty as it is considered to be a stronghold of Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel, who sided with Ajit Pawar after the party’s split.

The Gadchiroli-Chimur seat, which is the largest constituency in the state by size and is seen to be Naxal-affected, is gearing up for a tough contest as sitting MP Ashok Nete of the BJP takes on Gandhian scholar Namdeo Kirsan of the Congress, which is banking on the influence of Leader of the Opposition Vijay Waddettiwar in the region.