P V Narasimha Rao represented seat twice, in 1984 and 1989

In contrast, Congress candidate Kishore Gajbhiye is seen as an outsider, having parachuted into Ramtek, a reserved Scheduled Caste seat. Gajbhiye is a former IAS officer who took VRS and subsequently worked in a construction firm founded by BJP MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha. In 2014, he contested from the Nagpur North seat on a BSP ticket.

Gajbhiye (57) is tasked with doing what AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik couldn’t in 2014 — beat Tumane. In addition, the Congress also hopes to wrest back a seat from the Sena that it had held almost uninterruptedly until 1999, save Wasnik’s sole term between 2009 and 2014, when he lost by a margin of more than 1.75 lakh votes. To that end, the schedules of both candidates are seeing them criss-cross villages in open-top jeeps 14 hours a day with just a week left for polling day.

The first Congress office in Ramtek town is now occupied by the family of a former party worker. (Express photo)

This time, there are 23 other contestants in the fray, including candidates from the BSP and Vanchit Bahujan Agadhi, which will both account for a significant share of Dalit and Muslim votes. Five years ago, the BSP candidate had polled 9 per cent of the total 1.05 lakh votes. Local residents expect the BSP to further increase its vote share this year.

“When I lost in 2009 I went back and kept visiting each village. I believe that will help me this time,” Tumane says. He also claims to have prioritised generating employment for the youth in the region. “I have got Rs 72,000 crore worth of investment in building an industrial and processing park, where big industries will come and set up plants. The state government has started the process of acquiring 6,000 hectares of land in Umred taluka, which has no industries, and will give subsidies to businesses to set up factories there. We will make it 100 per cent GST-free. I have ensured employment to 50,000 people in five years and target creating two-three lakh more jobs in my next term,” Tumane adds.

In Ramtek town, which derives its name from Lord Ram who is believed to have rested here during his exile and is also famous for a centuries-old hilltop temple, local residents aren’t so enthused about Tumane. “He has done nothing in the last five years. The unemployment situation hasn’t changed one bit. There has been no help for small businesses as well,” says 75-year-old Rakesh Kumar Jain, who runs an electronics store in the main market.

Right across his shop is the shuttered entrance of what used to be the town’s first Congress office, opened nearly 60 years ago. These days, it is occupied by the family of a former party worker. Only a faded party symbol above the door indicates that it once housed former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao when he contested and won from Ramtek in 1984 and 1989. Preeti Baghele (40), who now lives inside with her husband and two children, claims that Gajbhiye has not visited this office yet. “Local party members have started their own small offices across the town. They only visit when they need to borrow photos of former leaders,” she says.

Lying in a dusty corner in a storeroom are stacked pictures of party stalwarts Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Indira Gandhi and Mahatma Gandhi. “My father-in-law told me that Narasimha Rao used to rest in this very room after a day of campaigning. The current party workers do not care about the history of this office. They only visit once a year to celebrate Dussehra,” she says.