The battlelines are finally drawn in Mandrem. The Congress party, which appeared on a shaky footing till now, has played a strategic masterstroke in naming vice-president Babi Bagkar as its Mandrem candidate. Bagkar’s staunch loyalty has earned him the ticket ahead of hot contender and veteran Ramakant Khalap and Sachin Parab, son of Sangeeta Parab. Bagkar’s day finally arrived after having fallen out of contention on several occasions, starting from the 2002 assembly elections.
By opting for Bagkar, the Congress has made it a straight contest between loyalty and the party-hopping of Dayanand Sopte. The first-timer will bank heavily on the voters who fell out with Sopte after his defection to the BJP and long-standing loyalty will be at test. The other two candidates who will nibble at the votes include Swaroop Naik of GSM and Independent candidate Jeet Arolkar.
However, before Bagkar could even set out on his maiden political test, he faces huge challenges from within. If he wants to take this fight to the BJP, he will have to break ice with both Khalap and Parab and gain their support. The unity of the Congress will be crucial to the success of Bagkar and for now this is a huge challenge, especially in the wake of the banner of revolt he had raised against the candidature of Khalap. However, the good news is that the former Union minister who has expressed dejection over denial of ticket has not shown inclination of standing by the party. The door remains ajar and it remains to be seen how Bagkar manages to tide over the situation.
Interestingly, with all the four candidates in the fray hailing from the Bhandari community, candidates will now eye the sizable Maratha vote to tilt the scale in their favour. Sopte who scored big over Laxmikant Parsekar with the help of Maratha cross vote in the 2017 assembly elections, may not get the same traction this time around with his defection to the BJP playing spoilsport. In such a scenario Bagkar stands to benefit from the Maratha votes.
Moreover, he will be banking on the home advantage. Bagkar hails from Morjim and he becomes the first local to contest on a national party ticket. The fact that Morjim has the second-highest voters after Mandrem will give him a shot in the arm.
Sopte, on the other hand, will face a daunting task of making peace with Parsekar’s supporters, even as the former chief minister is mum on supporting the BJP candidate. It would also be an uphill task for him to offset the defection damage by only promising jobs and development since deliverables are still questionable. With the BJP-led coalition already sorted on cabinet berths, portfolios and corporations, the government making space for Sopte appears highly unlikely.
