2 weeks Ago By Tushar Pawar
Nashik: After a decade of the BJP at the helm of Nashik East assembly constituency, the party's sitting MLA Rahul Dhikle faces a challenge to retain the seat this time round. Interestingly, the contest comes from within the ranks. On Nov 20, after a five-year stint as MLA, Dhikle faces off against BJP dissident Ganesh Gite, who is contesting on an NCP (SCP) ticket in the upcoming state election.
Gite was former standing committee chairman of Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) for two consecutive years during the five-year BJP rule up to March 2022. He was keen to contest the Nashik East assembly seat on BJP's ticket, but being denied the chance by the party, recently joined NCP (SCP) to throw his hat in the ring. Now, NCP (SCP) has propped Gite as its official candidate.
The segment includes areas of Panchavati and parts of Nashik Road division under NMC. It carries significance as the Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years in Panchavati. Lakhs of sadhus and devotees take a holy dip in Ramkund on the Godavari river in this region during the religious mega event.
As per data, the seat has 45% Maratha and 22% OBC voters; the rest are from other communities. Propelled by the ‘Modi wave' in 2014, BJP won the constituency and repeated the victory in 2019. In the first of these, BJP's Balasaheb Sanap bagged the win in the 2014 assembly election.
However, in the next contest in 2019, Sanap was denied the ticket, and it was given to Dhikle. At the time, Sanap rebelled and joined the then-undivided NCP to contest the seat but was defeated by Dhikle by a margin of 12,000 votes. A year down the line, Sanap returned to BJP.
While the BJP wave had continued in 2019, helping the party's candidate retain the seat, in the recent Lok Sabha polls in May this year, voters in this zone — Nashik and Dindori parliamentary constituencies — favoured MVA candidates. The challenge to sitting MLA Dhikle further lies in the fact that NCP (SCP) nominee and BJP rebel Gite has close ties to some former BJP corporators in the constituency, who may work against Dhikle during the poll campaign. Dhikle's plus point, however, is the prolific political legacy of his father, the late Uttamrao Dhikle, who was a former MP, MLA and Mayor of Nashik.
The late Dhikle had also won the Nashik East assembly seat on the MNS ticket in 2009. The Dhikle family has a strong presence in the cooperatives sector, too. The BJP candidate's brother, Sunil Dhikle, is a medical practitioner by profession and chairman of the Maratha Vidya Prasarak Samaj Sanstha, the second-largest educational institute in Maharashtra.
Sitting MLA Dhikle — like Gite — is also a former chairman of the NMC standing committee, and has a strong network in the constituency, all factors likely to help him in the contest. On the other hand, Gite is known to have a good network in Panchavati, but lacks the same in Nashik Road division of NMC. Besides Dhikle and Gite, MNS has also fielded its candidate — Prasad Sanap — from the constituency.
However, most feel he is a new face and not strong enough to challenge the other two. He may cause some damage to Gite's vote share though, as both are from the same caste. Key issues in the constituency that voters want addressed include the major problem of Godavari river pollution, which the authorities have failed to tackle till date.
There are also issues related to compensation to farmers for land they surrendered to civic authorities in lieu of various Kumbh Mela-related projects, like Sadhugram and ring roads in Panchavati. Encroachment on the Shahi Marg — the procession route sadhus use to reach from Sadhugram (where sadhus stay during the mela) in Tapovan to Ramkund on the Godavari river — is another issue. The development of gaothan areas is also a major talking point.
Dhikle said he is confident of facing voters based on developmental works done in the constituency during the last five years. "I am sure they will show their faith in me once again and I will emerge victorious by a huge margin in the election," he told TOI. Similarly, Gite said, "I have done a lot of work in the city during my tenure as standing committee chairman and also corporator of NMC.
" Moreover, he said he is contesting the polls on the issue of the constituency's development with an eye on the upcoming Kumbh Mela in Nashik in 2027..
