Congress likely to suffer setback in Marathwada

Mumbai: Former Maharashtra chief minister and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Chavan is likely to lodge a defining blow to the ailing Congress in Marathwada region during the union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to Nanded next week.

Chavan’s entry was expected to strengthen the BJP in the parts of Marathwada that had remained under the influence of the Congress. However, the party lost even the Nanded Lok Sabha seat. Chavan’s decision to quit the party was expected to weaken the Congress in the regions. That didn’t seem to happen at least during the parliamentary elections last year. Though the BJP recovered its position during assembly elections later, Chavan had little role to play in that sweeping victory of the state BJP. He remained stuck primarily to the Bhokar assembly segment from where his daughter Srijaya was contesting on the BJP ticket. His contribution to the party organization too remained dismal during the period.

On this backdrop, during the recent organizations elections Chavan sprang back to action and got his men elected to the district units of the BJP in many of the districts in Marathwada along with Nanded. During Shah’s visit to Nanded next week the next chapter of the story is likely to be written where majority of Chavan’s supporters within Congress party organization will be roped in to the BJP. Chavan is also likely to bring along more influential leaders from Congress and other political parties from Jalna, Beed, Parbhani, Latur and Hingoli districts apart from Nanded. Many former Congress MLAs and MLCs are likely to join the BJP ahead of the local body elections later this year. Chavan is currently on a spree to meet such senior and heavyweight leaders from other parties, the sources said.

Chavan appeared to have lost his political clout in the region after joining the BJP. After debacle in Lok Sabha, he consciously avoided limelight and concentrated on the assembly segments in Nanded district. Jitesh Antapurkar from Deglur-Biloli and Chavan’s daughter Srijaya from Bhokar won the election restoring Chavan’s confidence. In the next stage Chavan established his upper hand in the district party unit. Now his next step will be to rope in Congress heavyweights, sources close to him have said.

Former minister from Pathri Suresh Varpudkar and former MLAs Kailas Gorantyal (Jalna) and Badamrao Pandit (Gevrai) along with a few more former MLAs are likely to join the BJP in presence of Shah next week. Chavan is very actively pursuing all such leaders. He even visited Nanded Congress district president B R Kadam sending out a strong signal that he not keeping any stone unturned in strengthening the BJP in the region as part of efforts to restore his lost clout in the region.