Mumbai: Notwithstanding the lone loss that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suffered in the May 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Chandrapur constituency, Maharashtra Finance Minister, Sudhir Mungantiwar is favourite to retain his Ballarpur assembly constituency in Chandrapur district. In the last five years of his tenure as the Minister for Finance and Forest, Mungantiwar shot into prominence due to his afforestation drive, steps he took to boost tiger conservation and starting the Military School in Chandrapur.
More than anything that Mungantiwar is known for is for his “Harit Maharashtra” (Green Maharashtra” drive that he launched in 2016. The plan was to plant 50 crore trees in four years. Till 2018, the Forest department had planted 23.16 crore trees out of the overall targeted 19 crore in just two years. Emboldened by the success Mungantiwar had set target of planting 33 crore trees in 2019 using the Japense Miyawaki plantation method for dense forest growth. The net result was that in 2017, the state forest cover increased by 15.59 percent.
His other initiative that attracted attention was his efforts at tiger conservation. Mungantiwar had roped in Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan as the state governments brand ambassador. The net result of the various initiatives that he took was that the tiger population which was 190 in 2014, grew to 312 in 2018, a rise of 122 tigers in just four years.
The other most notable achievement that Mungantiwar managed to attain was starting the Sainik School (Military School) in Chandrapur. During the tenure of late Manohar Parrikar as the Defense Minister, Mungantiwar urged the Defense ministry to set up a Military School in Chandrapur district. With the help of Lt Gen RR Nimbhorkar, general officer commanding, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa area, Mungantiwar planned and executed the project. Mungantiwar argues that the Sainik School will help wean especially the tribal youths from naxal affected district’s of Chandrapur and Gadchiroli away from naxalism and set them on the path of a glorious career in the armed forces.
In the 2014 assembly elections, Sudhir Mungantiwar had retained his Ballarpur assembly constituency defeating his nearest Congress rival by a margin of 43,600 votes. Mungantiwar had then polled 1,03,718 votes, while his nearest Congress rival Ghanshyam Mulchandani has polled 60,118 votes. In 2009 assembly elections, Mungantiwar had retained the seat by a margin 24,736 votes. Comparing the 2009 and 2014 victory margins, there is a positive increase of 18,864 votes.
This time around in 2019 assembly elections, Mungantiwar faces a multi-cornered contest in a field of 13 candidates in the fray. His main rivals include – Dr Vishwas Zade (Congress), Sarfaraj Yusuf Sheikh (Bahujan Samaj Party, BSP), Raju Zade (Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, VBA) and Taher Hussain, Nasir Mohammad Sheikh (Aam Aadmi Party, AAP).
The total 3,21,083 lakh electorate comprises of 1,64,025 male, 1,56,741 female and 1 Others category voter. Compared to the 2014 voter population of 3,07,459, the voter population has seen at rise by 13,624 voters. There are about 370 polling stations in the Ballarpur assembly constituency.
Sources in the BJP argue that Mungantiwar has been wrongly held responsible for the lone defeat of BJPs former union minister Hansraj Ahir from Chandrapur (SC) Lok Sabha constituency in the recent May 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Ahir had lost to his Congress rival Suresh Dhanorkar by a margin of 44, 763 votes. Ahir had polled 5,14,744 votes as against Dhanorkar who had polled 5,59,507 votes. Dhanorkar had secured a lead of 31,061 votes in the Ballarpur assembly segment.
When one considers the victory margin of Mungantiwar of 43,600 votes in 2014 and the lead margin of 31,061 votes in the recent Lok Sabha polls, the difference is still 12,539 votes in favour of Mungantiwar. Sources in the BJP disclosed that more than anything else it was Ahir himself who was to be blamed for failing to control the nefarious activities of some of his close associates and staff members. Their actions tarnished Ahir’s name to a great extent turning the popular mood against him leading to his eventual defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. Chandrapur (SC) was the only Lok Sabha seat that the BJP lost in the 2019 elections.
