Who is Bhagirath Bhalke?

Shortly before the NCP split, the former MLA from Pandharpur assembly seat joined Telangana K Chandrashekhar Rao's Bharat Rashtra Samiti

Bhagirath Bhalke from the politically powerful Bhalke family in the Pandharpur constituency in southwestern Maharashtra was not a keen student at school.

Bhagirath Bhalke eventually joined the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) during a recent visit to the temple town by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao. (ANI)

Bhalke, 33, son of three-time MLA, Bharat Bhalke, whose family has deep roots in the region’s farming community, however, has turned into a sharp student of politics.

For one, he quickly understood that a recent loss in a by-poll in Pandharpur, fought on a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ticket, meant that his fortunes were dipping in the party. He had fought the polls – after his father, then NCP MLA, died from Covid-19-related complications in 2020 – but lost to BJP’s Samadhan Autade by 3,733 votes in a bitterly fought electoral battle.

Bhalke’s anxiety about his position in the NCP came true when on May 7 this year, party president Sharad Pawar visited Pandharpur to induct new leaders while laying the foundation stone for a bio-CNG plant.

Among those who joined NCP on that day was Abhijit Patil, a young face from the temple town of Maharashtra. Patil shot into fame after he successfully restarted the loss-making Vitthal Cooperative Sugar Mill following two years of closure, turning it into a profit-making institution.

The search for a new leader to take on the BJP in the upcoming assembly polls had begun.

NPC chief Pawar publicly announced during his visit that Patil will be NCP’s candidate in upcoming elections

“I feel that the Pandharpur tehsil has been politically orphaned and Patil has all the courage to change that. I must tell you that whenever the polls come close, MVA’s most popular election candidate will be Patil,” said Pawar while addressing local farmers and members of the Vitthal Cooperative Sugar Mill.

It became clear to Bhalke on that day that he was facing strong political headwinds.

The new development stung more because the sugar mill was previously controlled by his family: In fact, Bhalke’s professional career began in 2009 when he was, for the first time elected, as director of the sugar factory. Later in 2014, he was again elected as its director.

This became a trigger for Bhalke to look for alternatives.

He eventually joined the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) during a recent visit to the temple town by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, popularly known as KCR in his home state. To Bhalke, besides his own political isolation, it was the work that BRS had done for farmers in Telangana, which prompted him to make the change.

“I had many options including the NCP, my previous home. But except for BRS, all these parties have been unable to address farmers' woes. In Telangana, we have seen how the KCR government has initiated schemes for farmers," Bhalke said.

What also possibly made Bhalke change parties were persistent rumours about unnamed senior NPC members plotting his defeat in the by-polls. While Bhalke remained silent on the issue, people close to him said NCP’s senior leaders from the district had a hand in his defeat.

Kakasaheb Thorat, who attended Pawar's meeting on May 7, said: “To lose an election by 3000 votes is not a big thing. In fact, NCP party big shots remain absent during Dada’s (Bhalke’s) campaign. On the other hand, BJP’s top brass made huge efforts. But even after, that Dada gave a good fight.’’

To stay in the party under such circumstances, Thorat said, was difficult for Bhalke. The 33-year-old’s keen understanding of electoral politics in the region helped in his closely-tracked change of parties.

It goes like this: In the seat-sharing formula, NCP is likely to retain the Pandharpur-Mangalwedha seat in Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) as other constituents.

From the saffron camp, the seat, in all likelihood, will be contested by the BJP in the 2024 polls. So, for Bhalke, joining any party unlikely to contest the seat from either camp would mean staying away from the electoral ring.

"Bhalke has the advantage of his father’s network in the Pandharpur and Mangalwedha area but he needs to make more efforts on the ground to maintain his father’s bastion," said Digvijay Jirage, a political analyst from Solapur.

It will not be easy for him to cement his position as the real political heir of the late Bhalke in front of heavyweight political leaders in his constituency like Samadhan Awatade, Prashant Paricharak, Kalyan Kale and an ambitious newcomer like Abhijit Patil, Jirage added.

Pawar, on his part, played down Bhalke’s loss to NCP.

“It’s not a big deal," he said.

“There is no reason to worry if one person quits party. In the case of Bhagirath Bhalke, we had realised our mistake when we fielded him for the by-poll,” Pawar said a day after Bhalke joined BRS.

For BRS, which is in search of leaders from all parties in Maharashtra to expand its base in the state, Bhalke is an addition that will help the Telangana-based party to help establish its foothold in areas bordering Maharashtra.

In the recent past, the Telangana CM KCR has held public rallies in areas of Maharashtra to attract new members and leaders from the state. The expansion policy has seen the KCR’s party opening an office in Nagpur; party members have now been instructed to look for office space in Pune, Mumbai and Sambhajinagar among other cities.

Jirage, the political analyst quoted earlier, recalled that in the '80s and '90s, former Andhra CM NT Rama Rao made similar efforts in Solapur district but failed to make a lasting mark in the region.

KCR is making similar efforts but Bhalke has to step up to break new ground.

“Though KCR is ready to supply (political) arms and ammunition from Telangana, Bhagirath has to play him to play his own game which seems to be difficult for him at this stage,” Jirage said, especially because of his “negative image” formed during the chairmanship of the sugar factory.

The KCR-led party may be confident in winning over farmers in Maharashtra, but it may not be easy since the politics in the state is fragmented and there are multiple players closely eying each other’s constituency.

Barring MNS, most of these smaller parties are likely to fight against the BJP and add to an already crowded opposition space. So, the more the opposition space is divided, the better it is for the BJP in Maharashtra. After all, the crowded opposition space means a reduction in the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s vote share.

The road ahead for the young Bhalke will not be easy.

But as the son of a wrestler – his father Bharat Bhalke was a trained wrestler – he will know a thing or two about taking the fight to his opponents.