Prafulla Gudadhe Patil's Chances In Wresting Nagpur South West, BJP Bastion (image:facebook.com/prafulla.gudadhe)

Nagpur, Maharashtra: As the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and one of the BJP‘s prominent faces in state politics, Devendra Fadnavis, is seeking his sixth term from Nagpur South West, there is a universal consensus that it won’t be an easy win this time. He is fielded against Prafulla Gudadhe Patil of the Congress, and this marks the second face-off between both leaders.

Prafulla Gudadhe Patil is an ex-corporator from Nagpur Municipal Corporation. He is the son of former minister Vinod Gudadhe-Patil, who was the first BJP MLA from Nagpur district in 1990. A two-time MLA from Nagpur-West, the senior Patil later left the BJP and joined Congress. Though Vinod contested in the 1999 Assembly election on Congress ticket, he lost to Fadnavis, who was then making his debut in the state polls.

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Fadavis’ supporters are engaging in door-to-door campaigns with vigour citing the government’s welfare schemes and projects initiated by the Deputy Chief Minister in the constituency. But the issues such as anti-incumbency sentiments, unemployment, rising prices, and caste factors at play may pose huge challenges for Fadnavis, advancing Gudadhe Patil’s chances.  In addition, voters also point to the unresolved civic issues in the constituency—flooding in some areas following heavy rains last year is one of the highly discussed topics among electorates. As Fadanavis is facing allegations over his inaccessibility, his rival Gudadhe Patil is considered as an accessible politician who is heavily invested in resolving public issues.

In the 2014 election, Prafulla contested against Fadnavis for the first time and lost the seat to Fadnavis by a margin of 58,942 votes. About his setback in 2014, the Congress leader said that he was unprepared for the ‘Modi wave’, which bolstered the BJP’s performance then, and strongly believes that he has better chances now. “In 2014, the decision to field me came as a surprise. I was not prepared to take on the massive Modi wave that swept across Maharashtra and the country. What makes this election different is that we are better organised and a lot more efforts are going in to ensure we can outdo the BJP,” Indian Express quotes, as Gudadhe-Patil is saying.

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Moreover, Gudadhe Patil belongs to the influential Kunbi community. According to political experts, his OBC identity gives him an edge in the election since the constituency comprises 70,000 Kunbis alone. Aside from the Kunbis, the caste compositions in the assembly segment are about one lakh Dalits, 60,000 Brahmins, 30,000 Telis, and 20,000 Mali voters. The Congress hopes that with his popularity and connection among electorates, their strategy of mobilising Dailt-Muslim-Kunbi votes work in Patil’s favour in election.