Amar Kale, Former Congress MLA Will Contest From Wardha On NCP Ticket (image@amarkale_inc)

The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) or NCP (SP) gave ticket to Amar Kale from Maharashtra”s Wardha constituency. Kale joined NCP last month. Before joining NCP, he was a member of Indian National Congress. Wardha has been a traditional bastion of Congress for decades. For the first time in the history of Lok Sabha election, Congress chose not to contest from the seat giving it up to its ally, NCP.

Belonging to the influential Kumbi community, Kale hopes to win the seat from the sizable presence of the community in the constituency. During the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Amar Kale fought from Arvi seat. He lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party”s Dadasaheb Keche.

In Wardha, Kale in contesting against the two-term MLA of BJP, Ramdas Tadas. Kale is confident in winning the seat. He said he is fighting to save the constitution and that people are afraid that if the BJP comes into power one more time, the Constitution will be forgotten and would go for a dictatorial form of rule. He said, “I am getting good responses in all rallies and sure that I am winning with a comfortable margin”, as quoted by Hindustan Times.

Wardha holds a special place for Congress. It was a place where Mahatma Gandhi stayed for six years, and for decades it was under Congress rule. Wardha has been Congress identity in the Eastern Vidarbha region. Reportedly, there is a growing sentiment among the Congress workers that the party should have retained Wardha.