Nanded bypoll a battle of prestige for Cong, BJP

Nanded: The bypoll to the Nanded Lok Sabha constituency – necessitated due to the demise of Congress MP Vasantrao Chavan soon after the elections earlier this year – has emerged as a high stakes battle for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. The latter hopes to cash in on sympathy for the deceased leader and show that voters in the Marathwada region are still opposed to the Narendra Modi-led central government. The BJP, however, is keen to show that it can reclaim a seat in a region where it was trounced in the Lok Sabha polls, thanks to developments over the past six months. A win in Nanded, which has a sizeable Muslim population, will also help the saffron party shed its anti-minority image.
The bypoll in Nanded is scheduled on November 20, the same day as the assembly election. Both BJP and Congress have fielded candidates with no prior experience of contesting Lok Sabha elections. The BJP has opted for its district president Santuk Hambarde over former MP Pratap Chikhalikar, who lost the 2024 Lok Sabha poll to Congress’ Vasantrao Chavan by 59,442 votes, while the Congress has nominated Vasantrao Chavan’s son Ravindra Chavan.
BJP opts for fresh face
Chikhalikar’s defeat in May was a double embarrassment for the BJP as it came nearly three months after former chief minister and Congress leader Ashok Chavan, who wields immense clout in the district, joined the party. Though Ashok Chavan spearheaded the BJP campaign during the Lok Sabha election, Chikhalikar lost out due to the consolidation of Maratha votes behind the opposition alliance.
Though Chikhalikar was keen to contest the bypoll too, he was denied a ticket as party leaders and MLAs including Ashok Chavan opposed him. Ashok Chavan was himself asked to contest, but he refused, creating a perception that the seat was not ‘safe’. Nevertheless, local BJP leaders believe that Hambarde stands a good chance.
“He has very strong presence in the urban areas of the district through his educational institutions. He is a fresh face and the decision of not renominating former MP Chikhalikar will work in our favour,” said a local BJP leader. The political atmosphere in the state, especially in Marathwada, had changed since the Lok Sabha polls in May due to corrective measures taken by the party and the state government, the leader noted.
“Recent rallies by prime minister Narendra Modi, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and their announcements for Marathwada will also work in our favour in the bypoll,” the leader said.
Cong banks on former MP’s son
The Congress, meanwhile, is banking on sympathy for the deceased MP’s son Ravindra Chavan, who also controls educational institutes in the district and enjoys good rapport among voters. He appeared confident of his victory as all Congress has bagged all the six assembly segments under the Nanded Lok Sabha constituency as part of its seat-sharing deal with allies in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
“We have undertaken social engineering by giving representation to all sections of society. Not only Marathas, even OBCs and other communities are with us. The Mahayuti, on the other hand, is beset with rebellions. With the BJP fielding Hambarde instead of Chikhalikar, the contest has become easy for me,” Ravindra Chavan told HT.
Caste dynamics
Nanded-based Political analyst Abhaykumar Dandage too said that the situation had changed since the Lok Sabha polls in May, and various communities may vote differently in the bypoll.
“Marathas, Muslims and Dalits had voted en masse for the MVA in the Lok Sabha polls. But it is not clear if the same will happen in the bypoll too. Secondly, even though Marathas may still be standing with the opposition alliance, OBCs too have consolidated against Marathas and it may have an impact in the election,” said Dandage.
Colour coding for LS, assembly polls
The district election machinery in Naded is facing numerous challenges due to the simultaneous schedule of the Lok Sabha bypoll and the assembly election on November 20 – a first in 25 years.
“People keep asking us about how to differentiate between voting machines while voting for the two elections at same polling booth. So we are conducting awareness sessions on how the machines for the two polls are different in colour. We are also releasing videos and reels, and using influencers to sensitise voters over social media,” said district collector Abhijit Raut, who is also the district in-charge for the election.