NCP Draws Blank In Mukhed Civic Polls Despite Recent Surge In Nanded District

Nanded: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has emerged strongly in Nanded district in the past year and made grand preparations for the Loha and Kandhar municipal council elections. However, it has not fielded any candidate in the Mukhed Municipal Council election, either for council president or council members. Although two former MLAs are active in the NCP, the nephew of one of them has filed a nomination from the BJP, surprising the political arena.

Congress’s former MLA Avinash Ghate, Shiv Sena’s Subhash Sabne, Congress’s former ZP president Vaishali Chavan, her husband Swapnil, her father-in-law Seshrao Chavan, and former ZP president Venkatrao Gojegaonkar are now in the NCP with their supporters. NCP president and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had recently visited Mukhed and Deglur when the Chavan family and Sabne joined NCP.

However, party leaders could not field any candidate in the Mukhed Municipal Council elections. As a result, former MLA Pratap Patil Chikhlikar and district president Shivraj Patil Hotalkar are in crisis, and Chikhlikar’s claims in Mukhed taluka have failed.

BJP MLA Tushar Rathod is leading in Mukhed. He has selected a candidate for council president and planned candidate deployment in each ward. On the other hand, NCP had entrusted responsibility to Sabne, but the party had given no candidate for council president till the last date for filing nomination forms. Sources said only one candidate has taken the B form from the party for a council member post.

Ghate has been active in NCP for several years. Chikhlikar had planned for the municipal council elections. However, neither former MLA could formulate the strategy. On the other hand, Ghate’s nephew, Hemant Ghate, has filed a nomination from the BJP.

BJP MLA Dr Tushar Rathod, from the beginning, was not in support of an alliance with Mahayuti’s allied parties in Mukhed. In the last assembly election, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) had worked for Balaji Khatgaonkar against Rathod. Similarly, NCP had also worked against him.

Against this backdrop, Shiv Sena (Shinde) has fielded its candidates for the council elections independently. Congress has fielded candidates in 12 seats, but NCP has fielded none.

NCP district president Shivraj Patil Hotalkar, declaring the party’s stand, said the party could not give any candidate for the Mukhed election, but it has fielded candidates independently in the Deglur, Kandhar, Loha, Dharmabad and Bhakhar municipal council elections. In Hadgaon, the party has formed an alliance with the NCP (Sharad Pawar) and with the BJP in Kinwat.