Nana Patole has the reputation of being a giant killer, but that will not be enough to trouble Nitin Gadkari
It is 11am and the temperature has already touched 40 degrees on the Celsius scale in Bezonbagh in north Nagpur. Still, there are a few hundred people in Nana Patole’s padyatra. The former BJP MP, who joined the Congress in 2017 and has been fielded by the party in Nagpur, stops at regular intervals to interact with people. “Wherever I am going, I am seeing the so-called ‘vikas’ done by Gadkari and the BJP government,” said Patole, taking a jibe at Union minister Nitin Gadkari, his opponent. “The only progress that has taken place is in Gadkari’s wealth. It grew by 140 per cent in the last five years.”
Nagpur had long been a Congress bastion, despite the city being the RSS headquarters. Congressman Vilas Muttemwar represented the constituency for four terms till 2014. He was keen on contesting one more time, but the Congress chose Patole, who is not a local. “I don’t understand this local, non-local issue,” said Patole. “Even Gadkari is not a local candidate. His family originally belongs to Ramtek. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi can go to Varanasi from Gujarat, what is wrong in me coming from neighbouring Bhandara-Gondiya to Nagpur?”
Of Nagpur’s 22 lakh voters, dalits, Muslims and Kunbis account for about 12 lakh. And the Congress is banking on this caste arithmetic. “Dalits and Muslims are traditional Congress voters,” said Vikas Thakre, president of the Nagpur unit of the Congress. “In addition, we are focusing on the Kunbi community. Patole belongs to the Kunbi community. Gadkari just does not fit into caste arithmetic of Nagpur.”
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