Ravindra Chavan. File.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Congress on Thursday (October 17, 2024) announced Ravindra Chavan, son of the late Vasantrao Chavan, as its candidate for the Nanded parliamentary bypoll. The party also named Jingjang M. Marak as its candidate for the Gambegre (ST) assembly bypoll in Meghalaya.
The Nanded seat fell vacant following the death of Vasantrao Chavan, 70, in August.
Bypolls for the Nanded Lok Sabha seat and the Kedarnath Assembly constituency are scheduled for November 20, alongside the Maharashtra Assembly elections and the second phase of the Jharkhand polls.
In the recent Lok Sabha elections, late Vasantrao Chavan secured a victory over BJP’s incumbent MP Prataprao Patil Chikhalikar by 5,28,894 votes, while the latter garnered 4,69,452 votes. He had won the seat despite ill health and big desertions, including that of former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who joined BJP ahead of the polls.
Soon after the election results were out, the Congress veteran had thanked Mr. Ashok Chavan for defecting to BJP.
Meanwhile, the party accused the Mahayuti government of “undermining” the legacy of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, one of India’s greatest figures, warning that those who disregard Maharashtra’s rich history and culture will face consequences in the upcoming elections.
Its General Secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Mahayuti government’s “extortion and loot” extended even to Shivaji Maharaj.
He pointed out that the 35-ft statue of the Chhatrapati at Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurg, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, collapsed within a year due to shoddy construction.
Mahayuti Government in Maharashtra, as also its patron in New Delhi, has been undermining the legacy of one of India’s greatest sons,” Mr. Ramesh said in a post on X.
“Seven years ago, the non-biological PM laid the foundation stone for a 696-ft statue of Shivaji Maharaj in the Arabian Sea near Mumbai. It has since been silently abandoned by his government. The jumle-baaz have had the temerity to deliver a jumla to Shivaji Maharaj himself,” the Congress leader said.
“BJP leaders, in their attempts to ingratiate themselves to the self-proclaimed divinity, have belittled the Chhatrapati by comparing him to the non-biological PM,” he said.
In a petty effort to spite the people of Maharashtra after their stinging debacle on June 4th, they removed the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj from its place of prominence outside the Parliament House, Mr. Ramesh said.
“Those who reject Maharashtra’s glorious history and composite culture will face their comeuppance next month,” he added.
Published – October 17, 2024 10:11 pm IST
