Congress’ Vikas against Gadkari’s Vikas in Nagpur

Nagpur: The talk of the town in Nagpur - considered the geographical centre point of India - is vikas!
It's about the vikas (development) done by Nitin Gadkari, the ‘Highway Man of India’ and the surprise Congress candidate Vikas Thakre, a sitting MLA and a former Nagpur Mayor.

The campaign has reached crescendo amid the sweltering heat, unseasonal rainfall and the smell of fresh oranges in the air.

Nagpur, the heart of Vidarbha region goes to polls on 19 April, in the first phase.

Though in 2014 and 2019, Gadkari (66) won by a margin of over two lakh votes defeating Vilas Muttemwar and Nana Patole, respectively, the battle this time has turned interesting because Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) has thrown its weight behind Thakre (57) even though the alliance with Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (I.N.D.I.A opposition bloc) did to materialise besides the presence of Yogiraj alias Yogesh Lanjewar of Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

“Bhau (brother)….its Vikas vs Vikas here….while Gadkari, the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister, is telling about the Vikas that the government has done, Thakre, is speaking as to how it has not changed Nagpur and common people face many issues like inflation, unemployment,” said Prakash Dupalliwar, a local resident.

Thakre, an MLA from Nagpur West, is a protege Muttemwar, a five-time Nagpur MP, the real challenge that he faces that the organisation of MVA partners - Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) - is not that solid. On the other hand, the RSS headquarters is located in Nagpur and Gadkari is considered close to RSS chief Dr Mohan Bhagwat. On the other hand, BJP’s trouble-shooter and deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule, both hail from Nagpur.

Except for Muttemwar, no one has ever scored a hat trick in this seat since 1952 - and Gadkari is attempting to emulate him.

“There is a contest…as both sides are putting up herculean efforts,” said veteran political analyst Dhananjay Godbole. “We are taking the Viksit Bharat model and Amrit Kaal ambition like highways, expressways and sea-links, high-tech high-speed roads, which has worked for Gadkari. He is a key pillar in the mission of developed India,” according to a senior BJP leader, who is one of Gadkari’s strategists.

“There is no doubt about our victory, but we should work to improve our vote share in Nagpur,” said Gadkari in one of his election meetings. “In Nagpur, in the last decade, we have worked on projects to the tune of Rs one lakh crore. We are doing the overall development of Nagpur,” he said.

“We want to change the misguided politics of BJP…voters are disillusioned by BJP’s divisive politics and what they are doing to democracy,” points out Thakre. “Gadkari Saheb is talking about one lakh crore projects in Maharashtra…if that was no, Nagpur would have become Singapore...Vikas Bhau is speaking about what the common person feels today,” said a close aide of Thakre.

“Gadkari has the record of past work like making 55 flyovers in Mumbai and Mumbai-Pune Expressway as the state’s PWD Minister during the 1995-99 Shiv Sena-BJP government. He comes with the experience of transforming road infrastructure during the two terms of Modi government,” said political analyst Ajit Joshi.

“Gadkari comes from the Brahmin community, he is the poster boy of RSS. He has the tremendous advantage of his personal background and Sangh Parivar-BJP network. Thakre is a Kunbi and more than 45% of voters are from the Kunbi community. Besides, there is a sizable Dalit and Muslim population. Because of the BSP, a lot of votes would be divided. In 2014 and 2019, the BSP candidates Dr Mohan Gaikwad and Mohammad Jamal, got more than 96,000 and 31,000 votes, respectively,” said a veteran politician.