Lok Sabha polls 2024 | Ground Report: It is neck and neck in Maharashtra’s Amravati

Amravati, Maharashtra: BJP MP Navneet Kaur Rana faces backlash and challenges in a triangular contest, impacting the upcoming election results.

As someone who is perceived as an ‘outsider’ to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the odds seemed heavily stacked against the incumbent MP, Navneet Kaur Rana, in Maharashtra’s communally hypersensitive Amravati. In a rare instance, her BJP candidacy was announced before her formal induction into the party, sparking strong resentment among local BJP leaders, leaders of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and independent MLA Bacchu Kadu.

Even many of her long-time supporters feel disillusioned or betrayed by her choice, potentially leading to a loss of crucial grassroots support who backed her as an independent in the 2019 election.

“There is evident discontent with the BJP’s local cadre, who are uncomfortable with an outsider being parachuted without the typical grassroot integration. All these years, those who worked against her in the constituency are now being forced to support her,” a senior BJP leader told The Hindu.

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As part of the seat-sharing arrangement, Amravati was always given to the undivided Shiv Sena. So this is the first time, since its formation, that the BJP has fielded a candidate, the actor-turned-politician, who the party feels could make a potential breakthrough in the area.

The constituency, once represented by India’s first female president, Pratibha Patil, now faces a triangular contest with the Congress and Prahar Janshakti Party, led by Mr. Kadu of the ruling dispensation, both presenting their candidates, sitting MLA Balwant Wankhede and Dinesh Bub, respectively.

Despite being aware of the potential resentment within the ranks, the BJP would not “bet on the wrong horse” unless they believed in her potential, journalist and political analyst Sanjay Pakhode says.