Kolhapur North by-election poses new challenge to MVA unity

Fresh trouble is brewing for the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners – Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Congress - with by-election to Kolhapur North Assembly constituency being announced for April 12

Fresh trouble is brewing for the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners – Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Congress - with by-election to Kolhapur North Assembly constituency being announced for April 12. Sena leaders are keen to take the seat from the Congress who won it in 2019.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray at Vidhan Bhavan. HT File

The constituency is a traditional Sena stronghold, but Chandrakant Jadhav of the Congress bagged it in 2019. Jadhav, a local entrepreneur, defeated two-term Sena legislator Rajesh Kshirsagar. Jadhav’s death in December from Covid-19-related complications has necessitated the bypoll.

The Congress may field Jadhav’s wife Jayashree, who is a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator in the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation, while the BJP is looking at either its district unit chief Mahesh Jadhav or former corporator Satyajit Kadam, the nephew of local strongman and former MLC Mahadeorao Mahadik. Complicating matters for the MVA, Kshirsagar has thrown his hat into the ring and may rebel if the seat does not go the Sena way.

This by-election is being seen as a mandate on the popularity of the MVA, which is being countered by the resurgent BJP after its success in four of the five states that went to the polls.

So far, two by-elections have been held since the MVA came to power in November 2019. In May 2021, BJP’s Samadhan Autade snatched the Pandharpur-Mangalwedha seat after the death of NCP MLA Bharat Bhalke, while in November, Jitesh Antapurkar of the Congress held on to the Deglur-Biloli seat that had been won by his late father, Raosaheb.

The prestige of BJP state unit chief Chandrakant Patil, who hails from Kolhapur, and minister of state for home and Congress leader Satej (Bunty) Patil, who is also the guardian minister of the district, hinges on the results.

“The Sena will contest and win the bypoll. We are waiting for saheb (chief minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray’s nod). In the last seven elections, the Sena has won five times… I will fight,” said Kshirsagar, who is also the executive president of the Maharashtra State Planning Commission.

Kshirsagar claimed that there was no visible sympathy or support in the constituency for Jadhav’s wife. “If I do not fight, the BJP will win. So, the MVA’s leaders must think about giving the seat to the Sena and support it.”

When asked if he would rebel if the seat went to the Congress, Kshirsagar said, “Let us see. One cannot say it today.” He added that local Sena workers and functionaries wanted the party to contest the by-election and even organised a conclave on Sunday.

Satej Patil said Kshirsagar would abide by Thackeray’s decision and denied the chances of a rebellion in their ranks.

However, a BJP leader said, “The core Hindutva voters supporting the Sena will not go over to the Congress and may choose the BJP instead… Kshirsagar may even win,” he added.

The constituency, which comprises the old areas of Kolhapur city like Rajarampuri, Shahupuri, Laxmipuri and Bawda, has around one lakh each of Maratha and other backward classes voters, 35,000 Brahmins, 20,000 Gujaratis, Marwaris and Jains, 18,000 Dalits, and 15,000 Muslims.

The claim on the seat by Kadam has also led to a loyalists-versus-newbies tussle in the BJP.

Mahadik’s son Amal is a former BJP MLA, while nephew Dhananjay is a former NCP MP, who was defeated by Sena’s Sanjay Mandlik in 2019, and has since joined the BJP. Amal’s wife Shoumika is the former chief of Kolhapur zilla parishad and the current president of the BJP’s women’s front in the district. Mahadik himself leads a local front called Tararani Aghadi, which is heavily invested in local politics.

An independent legislator who is close to the BJP, said when it came to contesting polls together, the three parties and smaller constituents that made up the MVA had a nightmare on hands. “There are several seats where the Sena, NCP and Congress are at odds with each other. So, it is obvious that there will be disgruntled elements who may help the BJP,” he said.