The contest for the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat is intensifying as both contenders, Sujay Vikhe of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Nilesh Lanke of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), are vigorously campaigning.
Vikhe, the incumbent Ahmednagar MP, recently took a jab at Lanke over his purportedly limited proficiency in English. In a viral video on social media, Vikhe remarked, "I won't file my nomination if my opponent (Lanke) can repeat my speech verbatim after practising it for even a month."
In response, Lanke criticised Vikhe, asserting that the election shouldn't be framed as a contest between the wealthy and the less fortunate. Lanke, hailing from a farmer's family, highlighted his lack of education in an English medium school. Instead of resorting to personal remarks, Lanke challenged Vikhe to discuss his achievements of the past five years.
Subsequently, addressing Vikhe on X (formerly Twitter), Lanke conveyed, "I understand that you may not comprehend the Marathi language spoken by ordinary people. Therefore, I'm delivering a message in English: Hard work beats money and muscle."
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Vikhe secured victory over NCP's candidate Sangram Jagtap by a margin of over two lakh votes. On the other hand, Lanke, formerly an MLA from Parner in Ahmednagar, resigned from the Maharashtra Assembly to contest the Lok Sabha polls recently. He also switched allegiance from the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the NCP to that of Sharad Pawar.
