Nagpur: The Congress in Maharashtra appears to be regaining territory within the Bharatiya Janata Celebration’s (BJP) bastion of Nagpur, particularly in rural areas of the district the place it as soon as was once robust however ceded area to the rival over a time period.
The newest enhance to the Congress in Nagpur is its efficiency within the current election of chairpersons in Panchayat Samitis and the Zilla Parishad. Of 13 Panchayat Samitis, the Congress received its chairperson elected in 9, whereas the BJP’s tally was zero. The Congress additionally retained the publish of president and vice-president within the Zilla Parishad.
Nagpur in Vidarbha area is the house floor of BJP stalwarts reminiscent of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule. It is usually the town the place the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — the BJP’s ideological mum or dad — is situated.
Chatting with ThePrint, Congress’ Rajendra Mulak, the president of the Nagpur rural unit, attributed the current success to “efforts taken to restructure and strengthen the get together on the grassroots” by constructing totally different cells and filling vacancies.
The BJP, in the meantime, referred to as the Congress victory within the Panchayat Samiti elections “an anomaly”.
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From rout to re-strengthening
The Congress was robust in Vidarbha, together with Nagpur, until the Nineteen Nineties. It held on to the area even throughout the post-Emergency interval, when it misplaced plenty of seats to the Janata Celebration elsewhere. Nonetheless, the get together began weakening post-1996, when the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance gained 9 of 11 Lok Sabha seats from Vidarbha area.
Congress leaders blame the get together’s slide within the area on infighting inside its Vidarbha leaders and lack of efforts in strengthening the get together.
In accordance with Mulak, the get together began selecting up the items after its rout within the 2014 Maharashtra election.
In 2014, the BJP nearly swept Nagpur district by profitable 10 out of 11 seats. Its tally went all the way down to seven in 2019 whereas the Congress gained three and an impartial candidate cornering the remaining one seat.
“We began varied programmes from 2016 with renewed enthusiasm. We had taken out a Jan Aakrosh Yatra throughout the district, touching each village. Then we had a programme referred to as ‘chavdivar charcha’, the place we sat down and mentioned varied points with villagers,” Mulak mentioned. Chavdi refers to any conventional assembly place in a village.
Since 2020, the Congress has recorded a number of native victories in rural Nagpur. It additionally helped that the get together was then in energy in Maharashtra as a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi authorities. The Congress ministers from Vidarbha reminiscent of Sunil Kedar, Nitin Raut and Congress state president Nana Patole aggressively campaigned for elections.
The get together, with its ally Nationalist Congress Celebration (NCP), swept the Nagpur Zilla Parishad election in 2020. The Congress gained 30 of 58 seats, the NCP 10, whereas the BJP received 15. The identical yr, the Congress additionally gained the Nagpur division graduates’ constituency election for the Maharashtra Legislative Council, bagging a seat that was as soon as with Gadkari.
Final yr, the Congress once more trumped the BJP in Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti bypolls in Nagpur district.
“Within the subsequent meeting ballot, the Congress will do a lot better in Nagpur, particularly in Nagpur rural,” Mulak mentioned.
‘Victory an anomaly’
Whereas BJP Maharashtra chief Bawankule didn’t reply to ThePrint’s calls and textual content message, Sudhir Parve, BJP MLA from Umred, referred to as the Congress’ current wins “anomalies” and mentioned the BJP was nonetheless the strongest get together in the whole district.
In accordance with Parve, the Congress gained some assist after 2019, after the BJP management determined to disclaim Bawankule, a powerful Different Backward Lessons (OBC) chief from Nagpur district, candidature within the Maharashtra election that yr.
“However, all that was previously,” he mentioned. “Now, he [Bawankule] has been given a prestigious publish, and there’s no confusion within the minds of individuals. They favour the BJP.”
Parve claimed that the infighting between Congress leaders was the rival’s largest hurdle and would proceed to harm its prospects in Vidarbha area, particularly Nagpur.
“The current Panchayat Samiti chairperson elections don’t say something. Fadnavis saheb is doing an awesome job with [Maharashtra CM Eknath] Shinde saheb and folks will proceed to assist us,” Parve added.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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