As loyalists, kin ditch him, is Ashok Chavan staring at isolation in BJP?

One of the three leaders who have quit the BJP is the former CM’s brother-in-law and former MP Bhaskarrao Patil-Khatgaonkar

While Patil-Khatgaonkar is Ashok Chavan’s brother-in-law and a seasoned leader with considerable influence in Degloor, Naigaon and Mukhed tehsils of the district, his daughter-in-law Minal was miffed with the BJP for denying her a Lok Sabha ticket.

Once seen as a powerful leader who wielded considerable influence over Nanded, former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan is finding himself increasingly isolated in the BJP ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls after his loyalists – former Nanded MP Bhaskarrao Patil-Khatgaonkar, ex-MLA Omprakash Pokarna and Minal Patil-Khatgaonkar – returned to the Congress last week.

The move, which comes months after the NDA’s drubbing in the recent Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, has also come as a rude shock for the campaign of the ruling Mahayuti, which hoped to wrest the Marathwada region from the Congress with Ashok Chavan’s induction.

While Patil-Khatgaonkar is Ashok Chavan’s brother-in-law and a seasoned leader with considerable influence in Degloor, Naigaon and Mukhed tehsils of the district, his daughter-in-law Minal was miffed with the BJP for denying her a Lok Sabha ticket. Pokarna is known to be influential among the Marwari and Jain communities, which are seen to form a significant portion of the electorate in the region.

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“It feels like I have returned home by rejoining the Congress. The Congress gave me the opportunity to serve as an MLA, MP and minister. Although I had briefly joined another party, I have now come back home,” Patil-Khatgaonkar said.

In February, the BJP had hailed the entry of Ashok Chavan – who was known for his meticulous poll planning and organisational acumen in the state Congress – into its fold as a “masterstroke” and subsequently elevated him to the Rajya Sabha but the move seems to have backfired as it seemingly opened the doors for other regional Congress leaders, who had hitherto been under the former CM’s shadow, to flourish.

The Congress’ collective leadership, led by MLA Amit Deshmukh, coupled with the impact of the Maratha quota agitation led by activist Manoj Jarange-Patil saw the party win three – Nanded, Jalna and Latur – of the seven seats in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

State Congress president Nana Patole hailed Patil-Khatgaonkar as a grassroots leader, who returned to the party “without expecting any position”. “The decision to re-induct him was taken after discussions with senior Congress leaders. His entry will boost the party’s organisation in Nanded and will help it win more seats in the upcoming Assembly election,” he said.

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Even as Ashok Chavan claimed that Patil-Khatgaonkar was “free to take his decisions”, the Lok Sabha loss in Nanded, which the former CM had represented in the Lok Sabha between 2014 and 2019, seemed to have further dented his image. However, the untimely death of incumbent MP Vasant Chavan has provided him with a redeeming opportunity in the bypoll, which is likely to be held simultaneously with the Assembly elections.

On the backfoot in Marathwada since the Maratha quota agitation erupted, the BJP is banking on Ashok Chavan to further its prospects in the region in the upcoming Assembly polls. It received a much-needed boost after former Congress’ Degloor MLA Jitesh Antapurkar joined its ranks last month even as another legislator of the grand old party is said to be on his way out.

The former CM is now left to fend for himself in the BJP as allies and the Opposition train guns on him as another of his loyalists and former minister D P Sawant chose not to follow him into the BJP while his bete noire Madhav Kinhalkar has joined the Sharad Pawar-led NCP and is said to be preparing for the polls.

In his home constituency of Bhokar too, Ashok Chavan is seemingly facing a stiff challenge from the Congress’ young turk Sandipkumar Deshmukh-Baradkar and Prahlad Ingole of ally Shiv Sena.

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While Deshmukh-Baradkar’s “bhumiputra (son of the soil)” campaign is seemingly gaining traction, Ingole staking claim to the seat while claiming that “the senior leader who represented the seat has done nothing to address unemployment issues of the region’s youth” has left the former CM red-faced and set up a possibility of a showdown between alliance partners during seat-sharing.