CHAVAN PRASH FOR CONGRESS

BJP bubble bursts in Nanded

The Congress has good reason to be happy: After winning the Parbhani municipal polls, it has swept the Nanded civic body elections in the Marathwada region. Given that politics is all about symbolism, the win can give the moribund party a fresh lease of life.

The BJP had lined up a battery of leaders during the campaign, including chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who had sought votes in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But even that gambit failed, suggesting that the magic of Modi is beginning to wane.

The results also suggest that Ashok Chavan’s star is in the ascendance and at least it will help blunt the attack of the lobby that is working against him. With Narayan Rane out of the party, Ashok only has to fend off the likes of Prithviraj Chavan and Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil.

Also, dogged by the Adrash scam, he had become an ‘untouchable’ within his own party -- the thumping win marks his political comeback.

The sweeping results -- 69 out of a total 81 seats -- will reinforce

The BJP had lined up a battery of leaders during the campaign, including chief minister Devendra Fadnavis

Chavan’s stature in the party and the prospect of his retaining the post of president for the second consecutive term. This is also a vindication of the faith reposed in him by Rahul Gandhi, the vice president of Congress party.

In fact, in the prestige contest, Rahul too had addressed rallies last month. “Gandhi was also surprised with the results in Parbhani,” Bhagwanrao Waghmare, leader of the House of Congress in Parbhani Municipal Corporation, said.

“The clean sweep also indicates people are getting fed up of the false promises made by Modi and Fadnavis. The issue of rise in petrol and diesel prices, the increase in the number of farmer suicides and the mess in the implementation of the loan waiver scheme are the major reasons why the people rejected the BJP,” said Chavan. Marathwada had been a bastion of the Congress; however, during the Modi wave in 2014, the Congress could win only two seats in the general election -- Nanded and Hingoli from where Chavan and Rajeev Satav had contested. Chavan said Nanded will be the beginning of BJP’s debacle.