Once a bastion of socialists, Rajapur Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra has swung radically to elect Shiv Sena candidates, after the saffron party made inroads into the coastal constituency in Konkan region.
Known for getting elected Barrister Nath Pai and later Madhu Dandavate, the constituency was considered to be a stronghold of socialists since 1957 till the 90s.
However, lack of organisational network and strong leadership has proved the bane for the party in the constituency.
Even the Congress wave in 1971 after the Bangladesh war and the 1984 elections, when the party made spectacular gains following the sympathy wave in the backdrop of assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, failed to dislodge the socialists from the constituency.
But in 1991, in the wake of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Congress scored an upset victory, when Major Sudhir Sawant humbled Dandavate for the first time at the hustings.
The shrinking of the Socialist vote base could be gauged from the fact that the Janata Dal leader, who bagged over 2.20 lakh votes in the 1977 elections could muster only 91,000 votes in the 1991 elections with the party being shoved to third place and second position being occupied by Sena.