Umred: Will BJP continue with its winning streak?

* BJP had bagged Umred seat for the first time in 2009 after it got reserved for Scheduled Caste post-delimitation

By Kartik Lokhande
Umred, a Congress-dominated constituency since 1962, witnessed a major change in Legislative Assembly election held in 2009. For the first time since 1962, Umred elected a candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena alliance. However, this time, the constituency is set to witness multi-cornered contest as all major parties including BJP, Shiv Sena, Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are contesting separately. Against this backdrop, BJP’s sitting MLA Sudhir Parwe is facing a challenge of continuing with the winning streak of his party.
Of a total 11 Legislative Assembly elections held so far, Congress candidate won nine times. Of the remaining two elections, held in 1999 and 2009, an Independent candidate Vasantrao Itkelwar and BJP candidate Sudhir Parwe emerged winner respectively.
As had been the case across the state, in the initial years since the state of Maharashtra came into being in 1960, Congress dominated the political scenario. However, since 1978, Congress saw rebellion in the form of Congress (Urs) and Congress (Secular). In the later years, there was rebellion at local level.
In 1980, Congress replaced its sitting MLA Purushottam Dekate with Bhausaheb Mulak. As a result, Dekate contested as an Independent but finished third in the tally. In 1985 elections, Mulak had to contest as an Independent as Congress-S fielded Dr Shrawan Parate. Mulak finished second and Dr Parate got elected for three consecutive terms 1985, 1990, 1995. In 1990 and 1995, an Independent candidate Vasantrao Itkelwar contested against Dr Parate and got familiarised with the voters in the constituency. He reaped the benefits of public familiarisation in 1999 and got elected. So far, he is the only Independent candidate to have got elected from Umred. He defeated Congress candidate Rajendra Mulak, son of Bhausaheb Mulak.
Despite defeat, Rajendra Mulak continued with building up on the network created by his father Bhausaheb in Umred constituency and wrested the seat from Itkelwar in 2004. Unfortunately for Mulak, the constituency got reserved for Scheduled Caste in 2009 after the delimitation exercise of Election Commission of India. As a result, despite having good network in Umred constituency, Mulak was unable to contest from there. He then tried to shift to West Nagpur constituency in Nagpur city or Kamptee in Nagpur rural. However, as he did not get ticket there, he opted for election to Legislative Council from local authorities and got elected there. In the cabinet of Prithviraj Chavan, Mulak also got a berth as Minister of State for Finance.
Delimitation and reservation of Umred for Scheduled Caste, gave BJP its first break here. BJP candidate Sudhir Parwe, who was a Zilla Parishad (ZP) member belonging to Khatik community, got elected with a thumping margin of 44,696 votes. He defeated Congress candidate Shirish Meshram. Parwe’s popularity among voters ensured his victory. Besides, alliance with Shiv Sena helped him a bit.
However, this time, the situation has changed. BJP, Shiv Sena, Congress, and NCP are contesting separately. BJP has retained Sudhir Parwe as its candidate while Shiv Sena has fielded J M Abhyankar, who headed Maharashtra Rajya Shikshak Sena, and is a retired Director of Education Department. Congress has fielded Sanjay Meshram, former District Governor of Rotary International District-3030 and Vice-President of Nagpur District Rural Congress Committee. An IIT-educated man, Meshram is a businessman and a keen sportsperson. NCP has fielded Ramesh Fule. Abhyankar and Fule reside in Nagpur while Meshram is a native of Kuhi. As Umred voters have preferred local candidate, the chances of Sudhir Parwe are better.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has fielded Rajesh Kamble and Bahujan Samaj Party has pitted Rukshadas Bansod. Of these two, Bansod had contested as an Independent in 2009 also and had polled 5,281 votes. As he is contesting on ticket of BSP, it is likely that he will poll more votes. In Kamble, MNS is testing the constituency to know its voter-base. Among other candidates, three Independents stand out as they are rebels from BJP, Congress, and Shiv Sena.
Anandrao Khadse, a former ZP member and a BJP rebel, is contesting as an Independent. He may not win the election but is stated to have potential to garner a few thousand votes. One more former ZP member Vinod Nitnaware also is in the fray as an Independent. He is a Congress rebel. He may poll Congress votes in certain pockets. Raju Parwe, who was previously with Congress and later switched over to Shiv Sena anticipating a ticket for recently held Lok Sabha elections, is in the fray as an Independent after Shiv Sena denied him ticket in Lok Sabha as well as Assembly election. A financially sound candidate, he is considered to be the toughest challenger amongst Independents. Whether he dents prospects of Shiv Sena candidate or others, will be interesting to watch.
Though it is quite difficult to predict about the poll outcome due to multi-cornered contest, sitting MLA Sudhir Parwe appears to be in the most comfortable position as his rivals will have to bridge the gap of over 44,000 votes between him and runner-up in 2009. Bridging such a huge gap and securing more votes is a daunting task in Assembly elections. Between 2009 and 2014, the number of voters in this constituency has increased by 6,570. In the previous election, 62.76 per cent of registered voters had turned out to vote and Parwe had secured 49 per cent of polled votes.
Overall, BJP is looking to retain Umred while Congress is striving hard to regain it. Other parties and rebels have added spice to the contest in this constituency known for ‘Saoji’ food.

Published in The Hitavada CityLine on October 6, 2014