Maharashtra Assembly Polls 2024: Two Babas fight it out in Karad South

SATARA, DHNS: Located along the Pune-Bengalaru Highway, the hustling-bustling Karad - known for its sugar production - lies at the confluence of Koyna and Krishna rivers, which originate from the popular hill station of Mahabaleshwar. 

The historic town of Karad falls under the Satara district, which is very politically-active. 

The fight of two Babas is becoming very important in Maharashtra politics. 

In Karad South, veteran Congressman and Gandhi-family loyalist Prithviraj Chavan (78) is attempting an hat-trick and is pitted against BJP’s Dr Atul Bhosale (41), a young politician. 

Both Chavan and Bhosale, are popularly known as Baba. 

Chavan, a technocrat-politician, is a former  Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office when Dr Manmohan Singh headed the Congress-led UPA government. Later, he was the Maharashtra Chief Minister from 2010-14. 

Chavan has been the Karad MP for three terms - 1991, 1996 and 1998. His father, late Dajisaheb Chavan was a Karad MP for four terms, as was his late mother Premalakaki Chavan, who had also served as Maharashtra Congress chief. 

On the other hand, Dr Bhosale is young and is associated with lots of social work in the sugar belt of Western Maharashtra.

After delimitation, the Karad seat ceased to exist and is now part of the Satara seat, which is represented by BJP’s Shrimant Chhatrapati Udayan Raje Bhosale, the descendent of legendary Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.  “I have worked in Karad as an MP and MLA…I am sure people will support me,” Chavan says in his meetings. 

Dr Bhosale, who has unsuccessfully contested the seat, however, is confident.  “We have the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said. 

He too hails from a family, which is active in politics and cooperative sector. His grandfather Jayantrao Bhosale was former Chairman of Krishna Sugar Cooperative Factor and father Dr Suresh Bhosale currently heads it.

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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