Syed Rizwanullah
Given the typical communal politics that prevails in Aurangabad Lok Sabha (LS) Constituency, the victory of Sandeepan Bhumare of the Shiv Sena as an NDA nominee should not come as a surprise. It appears that people have not forgiven Chandrakant Khaire, who had represented the constituency for four terms till 2019 when he had lost to Imtiyaz Jaleel of the AIMIM by a slender margin.
It was a strong anti-incumbency against Khaire in 2019 that made the Maratha voters threw their weight behind Harshavardhan Jadhav, a former MLA from Kannad. Though Jadhav finished third in the contest, he paved the way for victory of Jaleel.
This time, Khaire expected to make it to the Parliament riding the sympathy wave for Uddhav Thackeray following the split in the Shiv Sena. He ensured that the party preferred him over another strong aspirant Ambadas Danve, a strong Maratha face in the Sena (UBT) in the district. Danve is also the opposition leader in the state legislative council.
On the other hand, the Shiv Sena-led Eknath Shinde took a chance by fielding Bhumare, a Maratha face. Bhumare represents the Paithan assembly segment that is a part of the Jalna LS constituency.
Interestingly, Aurangabad Constituency accounts for about 20 per cent Muslim voters. It has a sizeable number of upper castes and business community in addition to the OBC voters, who apparently threw their weight behind Bhumare, not for his, but for the sake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While Imtiaz was banking heavily on Muslim votes and also attempted to rope in Dalits and other tiny minorities as well as the people hit by the Adarsh scam, for whom he had taken to streets demanding they get back their deposits.
He had also attempted to make amends in the party’s communal image by not using any communal rhetoric or appeal openly and had kept at bay firebrand AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi from Hyderabad. He failed to make a mark, though still managed a good fight. It was only solace for Imtiyaz that he finished as a runner-up leaving Khaire far behind.