CM Chavan eyes Karad South seat

Frequenting to his home town Karhad to hold janata darbar and launch development projects

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is mulling over contesting the forthcoming Maharashtra Assembly election from Karad South in his home district of Satara.

He has already increased his visits to his home town Karad to hold Janata Darbars and launch a slew of development works. Chavan has also launched a massive exercise to assess the ground reality and mood among voters before actually taking the plunge.

The Karad South seat has been represented by Congress party veteran Vilaskaka Patil, who has been Chavan’s critic.

Last week, the Satara district Congress committee passed a resolution in favour of Chavan contesting the Assembly poll. A senior Congress functionary told Business Standard that several district leaders have already held talks with Chavan for contesting from the Karad South seat.

Chavan’s move is crucial as he has been criticised by his rivals within the party and also by alliance partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for lacking a mass base. He has never been elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly but represented the Karad Lok Sabha seat in 1991, 1996 and 1998. He lost to the NCP candidate in 1999.

Chavan has told reporters that he will take a call on contesting the Assembly poll at an appropriate time. He is currently a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, after taking over as the state chief minister in November 2010.

Chavan recently received a major boost after the party high command put an end to the suspense over the issue of change of leadership by declaring that he would continue in his post and lead the Congress in the Assembly poll slated for September-October.