Maharashtra BJP Has A Problem: Finding Winnable Non-Dynast Candidates For Lok Sabha

This may seem unbelievable, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is finding it difficult to find suitable candidates in Maharashtra for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The party's second list of candidates for Lok Sabha polls which came out last week and the third which is expected soon, are said to have been delayed mainly because of two reasons:

Firstly, BJP senior leadership is finding it difficult to find ‘winnable non-dynast’ candidates in the state.

And second, in seats where there are no 'winnable dynasts' to be found, the party is seen scrambling to get any good candidate to put up.

This is garnering attention more so since Maharashtra contributes 48 seats to the Lok Sabha — the second-highest share state-wise.

Since BJP’s top leadership in the centre has set a 400 plus target for the upcoming polls, party’s senior leaders in Maharashtra are in no mood to go easy on any of the seats.

Allegations Of Nepotism

According to a recent The Hindu report, nine out of 20 Lok Sabha candidates announced by the BJP in Maharashtra hail from families with political legacy.

Considering that this is almost half of the names announced so far, and that the BJP’s leadership has stated publicly to eliminate nepotism in politics, its opponents like the Indian National Congress (INC) have termed it ‘double standards.’

Of the five female Lok Sabha candidates fielded by BJP from Maharashtra, four hail from political families.

One, top on the list is Dr Heena Gavit, a two-time MP from Nandurbar in Khandesh region. Gavit is the daughter of senior tribal leader and former Cabinet Minister Vijaykumar Gavit who was with the NCP before joining BJP in 2014.

Two, other candidate with family connections from Khandesh is Raksha Khadse, the two-time MP from Raver. Khadse is the daughter-in-law of former Cabinet Minister and senior politician Eknath Khadse, who was formerly with BJP but is now in Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar)

Three, Union Minister of State for Health Dr Bharati Pawar, who has been fielded from the Dindori seat is the daughter-in-law of now deceased NCP leader Arjun Pawar. Pawar was an eight-time MLA and a cabinet minister in the Vilasrao Deshmukh led INC-NCP alliance government.

Four, in Marathwada's Beed Lok Sabha seat, Pankaja Munde has replaced her sister Pritam Munde, a two-time MP, as the BJP candidate. Both Pankaja and Pritam are daughters of Gopinath Munde, senior BJP leader who served as the Union Rural Development Minister before his accidental death.

Among the male leaders with family roots in politics are notably Union Minister Piyush Goyal, son of Chandrakanta Goyal, former BMC corporator and a three-time MLA from Mumbai’s Matunga seat. Goyal will be contesting from the Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat.

There are more.

Sujay Vikhe Patil, incumbent MP from Ahmednagar has been repeated as the candidate from the seat. Vikhe Patil is the son of Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, seven-time MLA from Shirdi and presently Cabinet Minister who left INC to join BJP a few months before 2019 general elections.

Anup Dhotre, has been named as the party's candidate from the Akola Lok Sabha seat. Dhotre is son of incumbent Akola MP and former Union Minister Sanjay Dhotre.

Ranjitsinha Naik-Nimbalkar, BJP’s incumbent Madha Lok Sabha MP who has repeated this time as well, is the son of Shiv Sena’s former Satara MP Hindurao Naik-Nimbalkar.

Sangli’s present MP from BJP — Sanjaykaka Patil, who has been repeated as the party candidate once again, is the nephew of Dinkarrao Patil- INC’s former three-time MLA from Tasgaon-Kavathe Mahankal assembly seat.

Limited Choices Before State BJP Leadership

The earliest set of BJP leaders who represented the party in the state assembly and later in the Lok Sabha such as- N S Pharande, Anna Dange, Gopinath Munde, Arvind Lele, Anna Joshi, Rambhau Kapse, Ram Naik, Nitin Gadkari and Girish Bapat — were all first-generation politicians.

However, the situation changed when the party for a long time — from 1999-2014, was relegated to opposition benches in the state assembly.

According to a senior BJP leader who did not wish to be named, despite winning the highest number of Lok Sabha seats in the state and also emerging as the largest party in the state assembly in 2014 and 2019, BJP leadership was unable to devote enough time and resources to build a cadre base across the state.

“Due to the highly volatile nature of Maharashtra’s politics, we haven't been able to build a strong cadre base from top to bottom like it is in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. This is essential if party wishes to field a first-generation loyalist instead of a dynast or a turncoat on any seat in any election. Thus, whatever is happening in terms of candidate selection is out of compulsion and not choice,” the BJP leader said.

While the party has managed to locate winnable candidates with family political connections and poach a few candidates from the opposition ranks where it was relatively weak over the years, there are two such Lok Sabha constituencies, namely Chandrapur and Solapur, where it hasn’t been able to do either.

In Chandrapur Lok Sabha constituency, incumbent Ballarpur Legislator and Cabinet Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar has been named as the BJP candidate. Mungantiwar is seen as a close confidante of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Notably, Mungantiwar’s candidature came despite him publicly having expressed his reluctance to leave Maharashtra politics.

Nonetheless, he is said to have been chosen for Chandrapur because the party does not have any other winnable face in the constituency who can navigate its tricky social composition. The constituency comprises large number of Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) voters. Since it was the lone seat won by INC in Maharashtra during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP is now determined to wrest it from the former.

In the Solapur Lok Sabha Constituency on the other hand, BJP has been looking for an alternative to the incumbent MP Jaisiddheshwar Swami. As per reports, there are chances that the saffron party might field either former MP Sharad Bansode or Ram Satpute, first-time Legislator from Malshiras that is part of the neighbouring Madha Lok Sabha constituency.

Ultimately whoever is chosen as the BJP's face in Solapur, the candidate will have to leave no stone unturned as Congress has been equally strong in this constituency reserved for candidates belonging to SC category.

Pranati Shinde, incumbent Solapur Central Legislator will be the INC's candidate from this Lok Sabha seat. Shinde is expected to benefit from the legacy of her father Sushilkumar Shinde. A veteran INC leader and former union home minister, Shinde senior represented Solapur in the lower house of parliament thrice, before retiring from active politics.