Constituency Profile/Sangli
BJP attacks Congress bastion
A Congress citadel is under fire from the Bharatiya Janata Party which has fielded state Rural Development Minister Anna Dange to gain control of this constituency in Western Maharashtra.
Dange, however faces a tough task against sitting MP Madan Patil, for the Congress has maintained a stranglehold on Sangli since 1962. Dange had unsuccessfully contested the 1971 and 1989 elections.
The constituency, which has 10,22,342 voters, goes to the polls on February 22.
Except for the 1957 election, when Balasahib Patil of the Peasants and Workers Party was returned with 53.7 per cent of the votes polled, the Congress has always won here. V R Dafle and S D Patil won in 1962 and 1967 respectively before G T Gotkhinde ( two consecutive terms), former chief minister Vasantrao Patil (1980) and later his son Prakashbapu Patil (1984, 1989 and 1991) took over.
In the last general election, Madan Patil defeated BJP-Shiv Sena candidate Maruti Mane, the wrestler-turned-politician, by over 175,000 votes.
Interestingly, Dange, a senior BJP leader, has never been elected to the legislative assembly.
As the guardian minister of Sangli, he has tried to highlight the welfare measures implemented by the coalition government, but is helpless in the face of Patil's popularity.
Sangli is spread over six assembly segments -- Jat, Miraj, Kavathe-Mahankal, Sangli city, Tasgaon and Bhilawadi-Wangi.
The Congress received a setback in the 1995 assembly election when its rebel candidates bagged three seats. The Congress could only retain Tasgaon while Sangli city and Miraj went to the Janata Dal.
The Left Front has not fielded a candidate although it has its pockets of influence in the constituency.
The Congress is hoping the Left Front will back Patil, if only because of its aversion for the ruling alliance.
Also, Janata Dal MLA Sambhaji Pawar and MLC Vyankappa Patki, both influential leaders, have not campaigned openly for any candidate.
The Congress will also benefit from its alliance with the Samajwadi Party and the Republican Party of India since the backward community and the Muslims have a sizeable representation in this constituency.
Former chief minister Sharad Pawar, Opposition leader in the legislative council Chhagan Bhujbal and senior leader Vilasrao Deshmukh have already campaigned for Patil. Chief Minister Manohar Joshi, his deputy, Gopinath Munde, and Raj Thackeray, nephew of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, have done the rounds for Dange.
Elections '98
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