Sena-BJP, Cong-NCP head for close finish in bypolls

With just two days left for the crucial bypolls to Chimur and Daryapur Assembly seats in Vidarbha...

With just two days left for the crucial bypolls to Chimur and Daryapur Assembly seats in Vidarbha, it has now become clear that it’s not going to be a cakewalk for the BJP-Shiv Sena at Chimur or for the Congress-NCP at Daryapur.

While the division of Mana and Dalit community votes holds the key to Chimur, whether the late but strong surge by the Sena-BJP translates into votes will decide the fortunes at Daryapur.

The man whose political prestige is at stake at both the places is Narayan Rane. The Congress-NCP candidates — Prakash Bharsakale (Daryapur), a four-time winner on a Sena ticket, and Vijay Wadettiwar (Chimur), who won the seat in 2004, also on a Sena ticket — recently followed their mentor Rane into the Congress camp. Though he is trying hard to win both the seats, Rane must win at least Daryapur to keep his stakes in the party. If he wins both, he would strengthen his position as an emerging alternative to Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

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On the other hand, state BJP chief Nitin Gadkari’s prestige is at stake in Chimur. He had incurred the wrath of Sena president Uddhav Thackeray for staking claim for the seat. The stand-off had taken the alliance to the brink. But with truce being reached finally, with the intervention of Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, the saffron alliance had got down to strengthening its position in Chimur.

Rane is particularly worried over Chimur, where the BJP has put up Ramesh Gajbe, a prominent Mana community leader who has always won a sizeable chunk of votes in the past as an independent candidate. The fact that Rane has been camping in the constituency for the past one week shows the importance he has attached to the seat.

Though the Sena-BJP camp is claiming that victory will be their’s, within the alliance they are not so sure. “We may win by 5,000 votes or lose by 1,000,” said a top leader. “It all depends on how the Mana-Dalit votes get divided,” he added.

If the Dalits en masse vote for Wadettiwar, the Sena-BJP alliance might end up losing here by about 1,000 votes, “But we are banking on the possibility that such a massive transfer of Dalit votes is unlikely,” the source said.

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There are about 30,000 Dalit and 40,000 Mana votes in the 2 lakh voter-strong Chimur. Those also staking claim to these votes in this polls are former Janata Dal MLA from Ralegaon in Yavatmal district Netaji Rajgadkar, who is contesting as an Independent, and Ashok Ramteke of RPI (Kamble).

The BJP is also worried over the alleged “massive use of official machinery and money power by the Congress”. “We don’t know how that will affect the scene at the last minute,” sources said.