CONSTITUENCY WATCH. South Karad: home turf is no cakewalk for Prithviraj Chavan

The electoral fight for South Karad constituency in western Maharashtra is going to be an avidly watched one. Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who is the face of the Congress in Maharashtra, is taking on the constituency’s seven-time legislator and former Congress man Vilaskaka Undalkar Patil.

The Congress had asked Patil to give up the seat in favour of Chavan, as Karad is also the home turf of Chavan and his family.

But Patil declined and is contesting as an Independent from the seat, with support from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Karad is a prestigious seat given its association with the late Yashwantrao Chavan — Maharashtra’s first CM had been elected from the constituency.

Prithviraj, although not directly related to Yashwantrao, is a son of the soil. His father Dajisaheb Chavan represented Karad in the Lok Sabha from 1957 to 1973 and served as a minister in the Cabinets of Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi.

Making the fight more intense is the fact that BJP candidate Atul Bhosale, a local sugar baron, also has strong family roots in the Congress.

The Shiv Sena is fielding Ajinkya Patil, son of Bihar Governor and senior Congressman DY Patil.

Ajinkya’s brother is Satej (Bunty) Patil, who was Minister of State for Home in the Prithviraj Chavan government.

In an exclusive interview, Prithviraj told BusinessLine that too many “nouveau riche” people have entered the election fray and huge sums of unaccounted for money are being pumped into Karad. The constituency used to be a very ideologically driven, but those days are gone, he said.

He noted wryly that one of the contestants had changed four parties in five years. When Indira Gandhi was alive, the ‘hand’ symbol assured a victory but is it not valid any more, the former CM added.

The Congress has nurtured the constituency over the past 50 years and created an entire network of sugar and milk cooperatives, cooperative banks and educational institutions, he said.

According to Prithviraj, his campaign — based on the work he has done for the constituency — has received good response. “They are not just voting for an MLA but for a chief ministerial candidate. People will feel ungrateful if they don’t vote for me, as large sums as development funds have been spent during my tenure,” he said.

The Shiv Sena’s Ajinkya Patil told BusinessLine that although South Karad has been an important constituency for many years, development is still inadequate.

“If voted to power, better roads and adequate rates to the sugarcane farmers would be on top of the agenda,” he said.

He added that his maiden electoral fight is against Prithviraj Chavan, which is a bold move, but he is confident of winning. “For wining something big you have to take risks,” he pointed out.

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