LITTLE GROUND CLEARANCE FOR EX-CM

Nanded: After initial euphoria post-induction of Ashok Chavan, BJP seems to be on shaky wicket

- SUDHIR SURYAWANSHI

TWO months ago when former Maharashtra Congress chief minister Ashok Chavan joined the BJP, the saffron camp went euphoric about its forgone victory prospect in the Lok Sabha polls.

A "red zone" turned "safe zone" in Nanded in the saffron parlance. Today, the constituency is anything but safe for the BJP even though Congress has fielded fresh and new candidate Vasant Chavan against BJP's Lok Sabha MP Prataprao Chikhalikar.

In 2019, BJP's Chikhalikar won the Nanded Lok Sabha seat by over 40,000 votes against Congress' Ashok Chavan. Interestingly, Prakash Ambedkar-led party candidate polled 1,65,341 votes that is 14.9% of the total votes while Ashok Chavan lost by mere 3.6% vote share. This was the second defeat of Ashok Chavan in Lok Sabha elections in his political career.

Historical links

Nanded holds a significant historical importance. The 10th and last Sikh Guru Sri Gobind Singh spent his last days in Nanded and passed on the mantle to the sacred Guru Granth Sahib before his passing in 1708.

During the Marathawada Mukti Sangram, Shankarrao Chavan, the father of Ashok Chavan, who originally belonged to Paithan in Aurangabad, shifted base to Nanded and contested the first municipal corporation election and won. The Chavan family beNanded: After initial euphoria post-induction of Ashok Chavan, BJP seems to be on shaky wicket came Nanded residents. Later, Shankarrao Chavan and Ashok Chavan became CMs twice.

The Chavan family nurtured Nanded as it grew into a Congress bastion. It was breached in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Given the age-old ties, Nanded continued to support the Congress ideology 

2019 equations