Sudhir Mungantiwar: BJP Veteran To Wrest Chandrapur, Sole Congress Seat In Maharashtra (Image:twitter.com/SMungantiwar)

Chandrapur parliamentary constituency is the sole seat won by Congress in Maharashtra in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP has lost its constituency to Congress by a close margin. So, as the Maharashtra BJP is advancing for “Mission 45” in the upcoming elections, the party has chosen senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar as the candidate for Chandrapur.

Sudhir Mungantiwar currently serves as a cabinet minister in the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government. He handles portfolios such as forests, cultural affairs, and fisheries. He is also an MLA representing the Chandrapur assembly segment.

When the media asked Sudhir Mungantiwar if it would be a tough battle for the Chandrapur seat,  the minister replied that voters made the “mistake” once and gave a chance to the Congress, but they would not repeat that again. The focus will be on irrigation, agriculture, health, education, and industries, Mungantiwar added. Sudhir Mungantiwar started his political career early in life.

Sudhir Mungantiwar began his political career early in life. His political trajectory through the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and the BJP has been linear. Mungantiwar has been elected as MLA for multiple times and became a cabinet minister during the Narayan Rane, Manohar Joshi, and Devendra Fadnavis governments. At the same time, his contributions to public services and social initiatives are also noteworthy.

The Chandrapur Lok Sabha constituency has always witnessed a tight contest between the BJP and the Congress. In the 2019 election, Congress won the seat that has been held by the BJP as their dominion since 2004. Congress” Suresh Narayan Dhanorkar trounced the BJP”s Hansraj Ahir and his aim for a fourth consecutive win in the elections. Suresh Dhanorkar died last year, and in the forthcoming polls, Congress has fielded his wife, Pratibha Dhanorkar, as their candidate for Chandrapur. Sudhir Mungantiwar has dismissed any sympathy votes going in favor of Pratibha Dhanorkar, his Congress rival; the results will tell how the constituency voted.