Palghar bypoll now a four-cornered contest
MUMBAI: A four-cornered battle for the Palghar Lok Sabha constituency seems to be on the cards as the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) on Wednesday announced that it would field former MP Baliram Jadhav.
The move comes after the announcements that the Shiv Sena would field late Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Chintaman Wanga’s son, Shrinivas Wanga; the BJP would field Congress turncoat Rajendra Gavit; and the Congress alliance would field former MP and tribal leader Damodar Shingda.
With the BVA throwing its hat in the ring, the battle for the Palghar seat has become fierce.
Out of the six Assembly constituencies in Palghar, Thakur’s party has three MLAS, BJP has two, and the Sena has one. The constituency consists of predominantly a tribal population but also has an urban demographic close to Mumbai where the BVA holds sway.
Vasai legislator Hitendra Thakur, who heads the BVA, has said that he is confident of a win.
“I am confident that our candidate Baliram Jadhav will emerge victorious. He has worked for the people of the region and he is not an imported candidate,” Thakur said.
Traditionally, Thakur’s party has supported the party in power — he had supported the Congress-ncp government in Maharashtra from 2004-2014 — and is currently backing the Bjp-led government in the state.
Thakur has said that the move would not cause a conflict with the BJP.
“We are supporting the government for better stability. However, we have to progress and grow as a party,” he said.
Due to Jadhav’s entry, the Sena, which had entered the fray to test its strength in the region, may be at a loss as the BVA could eat into the Sena’s vote share. The Sena, owing to its alliance with the BJP, had previously never fielded a candidate for the Lok Sabha in this constituency.
In 2009, Jadhav won the seat with 223,234 votes and Chintaman Wanga came second with 210,874 votes. Subsequently, in 2014, Wanga polled 5,33,201 votes to defeat Jadhav, who secured 2,93,681 votes.
Wanga’s victory in 2014 has largely been attributed to the ‘Modi-wave’.
The Congress candidate, Shingda, had been elected to Lok Sabha from the erstwhile Dahanu constituency (now a part of the Palghar Lok Sabha seat) in 1980, 1984, 1989, 1991, and 2004. However, in 2009 Lok Sabha bypolls, Shingda was defeated by Jadhav.
The bypolls for Palghar, necessitated by the death of Wanga, will be held on May 28.