Congress stalwarts defeated amidst party’s worst ever performance

Mumbai:In a major setback to the Congress party, senior Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Prithviraj Chavan lost their home turf Sangamner and Karad south Assembly constituencies respectively. The party has been reduced to its lowest total of 15 in the Maharashtra Assembly amidst the landslide victory of the Mahayuti alliance.

Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena candidate Amol Khatal, who was a cyber cafe operator, defeated 71-year-old Mr. Thorat in Sangamner Assembly constituency in Ahmednagar district. Mr. Khatal was provided all support by Sujay Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, who was defeated by NCP (SP) leader Nilesh Lanke with the support of the Thorat family during Lok Sabha election earlier this year.

Before this defeat, Mr. Throat had won eight consecutive elections from the Sangamner seat. There is an old rivalry between the Vikhe-Patil family and the Thorat family that dates back to the 1970s. There were two prominent groups in Maharashtra Congress. One group was led by the late Yashavantrao Chavan and the other by the late Shankarrao Chavan — both were chief ministers of the state. Shankarrao had the backing of Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil’s father late Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil, while the Yashavantrao group had the support of Balasaheb Thorat’s father Bhausaheb Thorat. The Vikhe-Patil-Thorat rivalry has its roots in the competition within the then Congress as each group portrayed itself closer to the party high command.

Taking a dig at Balasaheb Thorat, Sujay Vikhe-Patil said that this is the victory of the poor people and beloved sisters of Sangamner. “It is a victory for the youth of Sangamner, who have been unemployed for the last 40 years,” he said.

Mr. Thorat was one of the contenders for Chief Minister’s post if the MVA was voted to power in Maharashtra. Mr. Thorat was defeated by a 10,560 votes margin.

Mr. Chavan, who is former chiefmMinister of Maharashtra, was defeated in Karad (south) Assembly seat by BJP candidate Dr Atulbaba Bhosale with a 39,355 votes margin.

The Congress received yet another shock in the Teosa Assembly constituency, where BJP’s Rajesh Shriramji Wankhade emerged victorious, defeating former state minister Yashomati Chandrakant Thakur by over 7,000 votes.

Congress party’s Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala said the Assembly election results were unbelievable. “We had received overwhelming support from the people of Maharashtra during the Lok Sabha election. We cannot believe that things can change so much within five months. Farmers are in distress. There are major issues in the state such as unemployment and corruption. Even common people cannot believe these results. Maharashtra Congress president won by a narrow margin. Senior leaders like Mr. Throat and Mr. Chavan have lost. I take full responsibility for these results,” he said.