Lok Sabha polls 2024: Retaining Ramtek seat a challenge for Shinde-led Sena

With the Returning Officer of Ramtek constituency declaring the nomination of Congress candidate Rashmi Barve as invalid, her husband Shyamkumar Barve became the official candidate of Congress. This has, however, created sympathy for Rashmi Barve and has become a challenge for Shinde’s Sena.

Now, the contest between Congress’s Shyamkumar Barve and Shinde-led Shiv Sena’s candidate Raju Parwe has become a litmus test for Shinde-led Sena.

Reportedly under pressure from BJP, Shiv Sena had to drop its sitting MP Krupal Tumane from the seat and nominate Raju Parwe, a recent convert from Congress to Sena. The move has created discontent among the Shiv Sena cadre of Ramtek who are hesitant to campaign for an ‘outsider’ and that too a Congress one. Initially, the BJP was vying to contest the Ramtek seat. However, Sena managed to retain the seat in seat-sharing arrangement but on condition of replacing the existing candidate.

The Congress is now trying to sail through the sympathy wave in Ramtek by claiming during campaigns how Rashmi Barve’s nomination was declared invalid. According to political observers, it will be interesting to see whether Barve’s husband and Congress candidate Shyamkumar Barve benefits from this.

Sensing the challenges before the Sena in Ramtek, the Mahayuti alliance has been pulling all strings in the constituency. Ramtek was the second seat in state where Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a rally after Chandrapur. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde too spent two days in the city to campaign for Parwe. In 2019 polls, undivided Sena’s Krupal Tumane had won the seat by 5,94,827 votes and had defeated Congress candidate Kishor Gajbhiye who got 4,68,738 votes.

Similarly, in 2014 polls, Tumane had won the seat with 5,19,892 votes, defeating Congress’s Mukul Wasnik who got 3,44,101 votes.
The political equations, however, has changed with the split in the Sena and NCP.

Now the factionalism in the Sena may play a major role in the election. The Shiv Sainiks are upset over the rejection of the candidature of sitting MP Kripal Tumane and giving the same to Raju Parwe, who came from Congress.

Meanwhile, the rising inflation, farmers’ issues and unemployment are likely to go against the ruling party. However, at the same time, the rebellion by Congress’s Kishor Gajbhiye, the support given to him by Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and the candidature of BSP’s Sandeep Meshram may add to the difficulties of the Congress.

Congress leader and former MLA Sunil Kedar has put his entire effort in campaigning for Barve and believes that Congress will be victorious in the Ramtek seat. “There is an anti-incumbency against the BJP and people have seen how injustice was done to Barve by declaring her nomination as invalid. We are confident that we will be victorious in Ramtek,” Kedar told The Indian Express.