Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024| Jiva Pandu Gavit files nomination from Kalwan

Nashik: Leftist leader and seven-time MLA Jiva Pandu Gavit on Wednesday filed the nomination papers for the ST reserved seat of Kalwan in Nashik district amid a massive rally by both tribal and non-tribal peasants.

Popularly known as J P Gavit, who is in his mid-seventies, is a candidate of the CPI(M), which is ally of the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).

The MVA has given two seats to the CPI(M) - Kalwan and Dahanu in the Palghar district.

During the 2018 long-march by adivasis and farmers from Nashik to Mumbai under the banner of All India Kisan Sabha, Gavit played a key role. The march had made international headlines.

Similarly, in February 2019, during adivasis and farmers agitation and a similar proposed march, he was one of the prominent leaders. He was also part of the April 2023 march.

Gavit has tremendous influence in the tribal areas of Nashik, Thane and Palghar districts. He was just 29, when he was first elected to Maharashtra Legislative Assembly 1978.

Known as a leader of masses who worked hard for the rights of poor tribals, he has aggressively campaigned for effective implementation of the Forest Rights Act.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Gavit wanted to contest the ST reserved seat of Dindori in Nashik district, however, he was requested by the MVA leadership to strengthen the alliance which he agreed.

Among the main leaders, who were part of the rally and public meeting were CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Dr Ashok Dhawale, NCP Lok Sabha MP from Dindori (ST) Bhaskar Bhagare, Congress Nashik district president and ex-MLA Shirish Kotwal, Shiv Sena (UBT) district president Jayant Dinde, NCP (SP) leader Ravindra Devre, Congress leader Shailesh Pawar, CPI(M) state secretariat member Sunil Malusare, state committee members Subhash Choudhary, Bhika Rathod, Irfan Shaikh, Indrajit Gavit, and also Savliram Pawar and Nilesh Shinde.

In 2019, he lost to undivided NCP's Nitin Pawar from Kalwan.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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