Villagers spurn caste-sympathy factors, vote for issues
Beed: In an emotional yet bitterly contested by-poll, the people of Massajog village in Beed district rejected caste and sympathy politics to elect a prominent local leader Swarupanand Deshmukh as their new Sarpanch, defying most political punditry.
Swarupanand edged past his rival, Ashwini Deshmukh - widow of the slain Sarpanch Santosh Pandit Deshmukh, a local Bharatiya Janata Party leader killed in December 2024 - by a narrow margin of 92 votes.
The by-election, held on Tuesday, recorded a robust 84pc turnout, with 1,744 of the total 2,084 registered voters casting their ballots. The results were declared on April 29 in which Swarupanand secured 914 votes, while Ashwini polled 822; and eight votes were cast for NOTA.
Ashwini’s campaign was led prominently by her children, Vaibhavi and Viraj, and her brother-in-law Dhananjay Deshmukh, among others, who appealed to voters to help complete the “unfinished work” of the late Santosh Deshmukh - banking on a sympathy wave.
However, defying pre-poll expectations, the electorate appeared to set aside emotional appeals, favouring local issues, equations, and leadership considerations.
Soon after his unexpected victory, Swarupanand alleged that he had faced “money power, muscle power and emotional pressure,” but remained undeterred.
He also claimed that Ashwini had been fielded as “a proxy” in a larger political game.
“My ‘sister’ Ashwini-tai was not even keen to contest. However, we stand firmly with the family in their quest for justice for Santosh Deshmukh,” he said, striking a conciliatory note.
Reacting to the outcome, Dhananjay Deshmukh accepted the people’s mandate and pledged continued efforts for the village’s development, which had drawn national attention following the Sarpanch’s killing 16 months ago. He acknowledged that prolonged protests and legal battles had strained ties between the family and sections of the village.
Prominent OBC leader Navnath Waghmare described the result as a rejection of caste-based politics, blaming Dhananjay’s proximity to Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil for alienating voters.
“This is a setback not only for the Deshmukh camp and Jarange-Patil, but also for (NCP-SP) MP Bajrang Sonawane,” Waghmare said, in remarks seen as a swipe at the Nationalist Congress Party (SP), whose senior leaders, including Sharad Pawar, had visited Massajog after the killing to express solidarity.
Following Santosh Deshmukh’s murder, the region witnessed widespread protests, road blockades and marches cutting across caste and party lines, with villagers demanding swift arrests, a high-level probe and justice for the family. The agitation soon acquired political overtones, extending beyond the state to the national stage.
Over time, however, unity gave way to divisions, with caste and political alignments coming to the fore and influencing the local political discourse - factors that played heavily in yesterday’s Sarpanch by-poll.
The verdict conveyed a clear message that though Santosh Desumukh’s brutal killing remains a deep wound on the villagers’ collective psyche, they decided on candidate merits and local developmental issues above mere sympathy or caste considerations.
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