Nagpur. The victory of former minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule from the Nagpur Legislative Council seat of the permanent body has created a wave of enthusiasm in the BJP camp. Special happiness is being seen among Bawankule supporters. Bawankule’s exile from active politics has also ended, with the result of this election with various dramatic developments falling in the hands of the BJP. He was rehabilitated and this has given life to the BJP not only in the rural part, but also in the entire district. The BJP is excited because the result of this victory will be available in the upcoming municipal elections as well. The morale of the party cadre has increased with this victory.
Bawankule had made his mark as a strong leader of BJP in the district. He used to play a role in bringing BJP to power in Zilla Parishad elections, Panchayat Samiti elections. He was made the Energy Minister by the then BJP government. For some time, the charge of Minister of Excise Department was also given. Bawankule, who had given a tough competition to the Congress in the rural areas, was suddenly shocked by his ticket party in the 2019 assembly elections. Although the party tried to compensate by giving him an important post in the organization, there was great dissatisfaction among the Bawankule supporters since that time. Now when the party made him a candidate for the local body’s Legislative Council seat, he had a challenge to win.
The anger of OBC society is also far away
When the ticket of the most flamboyant Bawankule of the cabinet was suddenly cut in the assembly, there was anger against the BJP not only among his supporters, but also in the entire OBC society. No one could understand why his ticket was cut by the party. No concrete reason was given by the party. This was unexpected even for Bawankule. At that time there were speculations about giving ticket to his wife but Tekchand Savarkar was given ticket. Despite his ticket being cut, Bawankule worked to make Tekchand win and was successful too. But he himself was distanced from active politics. Was performing the responsibility of the state general secretary in the organization. The damages for cutting his ticket, but the party was seen in the zip and post office elections.
Lost in zip and padvidhar
With the victory of Bawankule, the enthusiasm in the BJP camp in the district has increased manifold. Actually, Bawankule has a special hold in the village and the power of BJP in the Zilla Parishad was considered to be his contribution. After favoring him, the BJP also had to lose the power of the Zilla Parishad. In the last zip election, the Congress occupied the power of the zip with an absolute majority. This crushing defeat of the BJP was also seen to be linked to the Bawankule factor. The reason for the weakening of the BJP in the district was understood to be the displeasure of the OBC society. After the Zip, the BJP lost its decades-long stronghold in the post-poll elections. If the BJP had lost this Legislative Council election also, then the morale of the BJP people would certainly have weakened further.
There was also the question of prestige
Victory or defeat had become a question of prestige for the BJP, because if it had lost this election, the defeat in three consecutive elections would have had the opposite result on the upcoming municipal elections. More than that, for Bawankule, this election was a matter of prestige, because he had to enter active politics at any cost. Had he lost the election, his stature in the party would have been reduced and it is possible that he would have been sidelined. His close friends tell that he became active as soon as he got the candidature. He went to every voter’s house and asked for his vote. He was also successful in the exercise of keeping his voters in his favour.