What worked for winners in Kasba and Chinchwad bypolls

Straight fight between two candidates also worked in MVA’s favour in Kasba, unlike rebel candidate Rahul Kalate in Chinchwad who dented the NCP vote share

Better coordination among all three parties — Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party — mass base with local connect, and the image of being a common man helped Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA) Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar emerge victorious in the Kasba Peth bypoll.

BJP workers celebrate outside the counting centre Thergaon after the victory of BJP's Ashwini Jagtap in the Chinchwad Assembly byelection on Thursday. (HT PHOTO)

Straight fight between two candidates also worked in MVA’s favour in Kasba, unlike rebel candidate Rahul Kalate in Chinchwad who dented the NCP vote share and caused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to retain its seat.

Among the lessons Kasba Peth and Chinchwad offered to the MVA was that if it is able to quell the rebellion, the BJP can be defeated in future too.

In Kasba Peth, Congress leaders, including Nana Patole, took a lead in coordinating among three parties. He personally invited MVA leaders for campaign. For the first time, the three parties showed better coordination in Kasba assembly. After Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray lost power, workers from all the three parties have showed unity. It was also the first time that the Uddhav-led Sena’s votes transferred successfully to Congress candidate, ensuring Dhangekar’s win.

As a part of strategy, Congress announced the candidate late, not giving much chance to others to contest polls. Congress leader Balasaheb Dhabekar, who wanted to contest polls, was convinced not to fight with the party ensuring he withdraws from the race.

At the same time, since the announcement of the election, the MVA took lead in the campaign and effectively used various mediums like flex and “Puneri Patya” creating confusion in the opposite camp.

As the BJP had denied ticket to the Mukta Tilak’s family member, the Congress candidate went to Tilak wada and promised to complete the former’s remaining work, generating sympathy among Brahmin voters.

The BJP, meanwhile, was struggling with answering question on why it denied ticket to Tilak family member as well as why the constituency lacks even basic amenities. Dhangekar encashed the opportunity, as seen during counting of polls. “We have in the past voted for the BJP. This time, we thought a change is necessary as our area has been facing many issues and representatives in the past have failed to resolve them,” said Akash Barve, a resident of Sadashiv Peth.

Areas like Navi Peth, Sadashiv Peth and Narayan Peth, which were seen as supporters of the BJP, voted for Dhangekar this time as locals were fed up with issues plaguing the constituency.

The MVA from the beginning was seen successfully pushing the BJP on backfoot on the issue of denying ticket to Brahmin candidate and forced the latter to put efforts to convince its voter base about its decision.

Mass leader

Dhangekar is a five-time corporator in PMC. He had faced BJP leader Girish Bapat in the previous election. Dhangekar, a grassroots worker, is known for helping victims of accidents and medical emergency. He had defeated BJP’s Ganesh Bidkar in municipal polls.

The BJP focused on Hindutva in the last leg of campaign while the Congress tried to keep it as Dhangekar versus Rasane. Some BJP members attribute the loss to the party’s overconfidence.

In Chinchwad, Rahul Kalate and Nana Kate were both demanding ticket from the NCP. However, the party fielded Kate who managed to get 99,435 votes. Kalate, who has good mass base, garnered 44,112 votes making a severe dent to Kate’s base, resulting in BJP candidate Ashwini Jagtap winning by a margin of 36,168 votes.

“With no rebel candidate in Chinchwad, the MVA nominee would have had smooth sailing,” said NCP leader Ajit Pawar. For Jagtap, the sympathy wave after her husband’s demise worked in her favour.