Radhakisan Pathade wins with a big margin
Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagari:
In what is being seen as a major political upset, Radhakisan Pathade not only brought the Shinde Sena’s bow-and-arrow symbol into the BJP’s stronghold but also defeated the BJP candidate by a large margin. The defeat is being viewed as a significant setback for MLA Anuradha Chavan.
During the zilla parishad elections, MLA Anuradha Chavan had opposed granting a ticket to the former chairman of the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Radhakisan Pathade. Following this, Pathade alleged that Chavan, a long-time associate of governor Haribhau Bagade, was trying to sideline him, and he therefore contested on a Shinde Sena ticket. This added intensity to the electoral contest.
Campaign meetings in support of Pathade were addressed by MP Sandipan Bhumre, MLA Arjun Khotkar, MLA Abdul Sattar and MLA Santosh Bangar. On the other hand, BJP leaders including MLA Anuradha Chavan, former union railway minister Raosaheb Danve and minister Pankaja Munde campaigned for the BJP candidate.
However, voters in the Ladsawangi group rejected both the BJP and the Congress, which had alternated in power every five years for the past 30 years, and elected an outsider candidate, Radhakisan Pathade. Along with him, Pooja Navnath Ghodke from the Ladsawangi panchayat samiti constituency and Archana Shankar Bongane from the Chauka constituency were also elected.
It is being said that although Shinde Sena has no organisational presence in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar tehsil, support from Bagade loyalists, a disgruntled Congress faction, Uddhav Sena workers and dissatisfied BJP members made Pathade’s victory easier.
Despite MLA Anuradha Chavan making the Ladsawangi group a prestige issue, the BJP failed to prevent defeat. As a result, discussions have begun that Pathade has now emerged as a major political challenge for the BJP in the Ladsawangi group.