On Nanded turf, Chavan’s lone challenge is from Chikhalikar, a friend turned opponent

NANDED: Former chief minister Ashok Chavan faces friend-turned-foe Pratap Patil Chikhalikar in his bid for a second

Lok Sabha

term from Nanded. The Chavan family has held onto Nanded for two generations, which was watched closely by Chikhalikar.

As the head of the youth wing of Nanded Congress in the early 1990s, Chikhalikar started his political career along with Chavan. After enjoying three terms in Nanded zilla parishad from the Congress, Chikhalikar aspired to become an MLA from Kandhar.

After futile wait of almost a decade, Chikhalikar parted ways from Chavan and successfully won the assembly election in 2004 as an independent. He later developed rapport with the then chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who hailed from the adjoining Latur district and had a rivalry with Chavan.

Chikhalikar, however, failed to get Congress ticket in the 2009 assembly elections and faced defeat while contesting as Lok Bharati candidate from Loha.

Ahead of 2014 assembly elections, Chikhalikar joined NCP hoping for a ticket but was not granted a nomination. He switched to Shiv Sena and won the assembly election. Unhappy with the Shiv Sena top brass after he was ignored a berth in the state cabinet, Chikhalikar eventually ended up in BJP camp in 2017. Known as a “party hopper”, Chikhalikar is being groomed by BJP top brass in the state ever since then.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi kick-started his political campaigning for Lok Sabha elections from Nanded, it sent out clear signals that the

saffron

alliance wants to corner Chavan in his home-town. The BJP is putting all its might together to cause a major upset here.

Chikhalikar, a two-time MLA, rubbishes criticism levelled against him. “The selfproclaimed leader like you (Chavan) never took note of me. However, people of Nanded will definitely take due cognisance during the upcoming election,” he said, during an election rally after filing his nomination papers.

Incidentally, Chikhalikar’s presence in the BJP camp in the 2017 local civic polls did not help them. Instead, the Congress won an impressive 73 seats of the total 82 seats in the Nanded civic body.

Besides being in power in Nanded Municipal Corporation, Congress has nine of ten zilla parishads in the district under it rule. Out of six assembly constituencies in Nanded Lok Sabha seat, Bhokar, Nanded-north and Naigaon are ruled by Congress.

A visibly confident Chavan told Congress party workers that he has done the necessary formality of filing papers and will be proceeding on the election campaigning across the state with assurance that they will take over the reins of the Nanded poll in their hand.

Unfazed of the BJP plan to pitch Chikhalikar, Chavan called him as “chillar (worthless)” candidate. “I do not count him (Chikhalikar) at all... the turncoat has switched to fifth party now,” said the former CM, invoking the alleged connection of Chikhalikar with several liquor shops in Nanded.

Congress MLC Amara Rajurkar downplayed hype surrounding candidature of Chikhalikar as CM Devendra Fadnavis-backed candidate. “Leaving aside NCP, Chikhalikar has lost all political battle he waged against Chavan in past. Even local BJP and Shiv Sena cadres are unhappy with Chikhalikar getting Lok Sabha ticket considering his poor political image. On the other hand, people of Nanded have faith in the leadership and vision of Chavan saheb and they will vote him to power again,” Rajurkar said.

Vyankat Mule, a farmer from Chikhali, reposes faith in the Chavan family, saying that they have ensured Nanded district has sufficient water for drinking and irrigation needs.

“While Marathwada often reels under water scarcity, Nanded does not feel the pinch thanks to the vision of the Chavan family,” the 60-year-old said.