Constituency watch: BJP hopes to retain Latur LS seat, Cong fights to reclaim it

A traditional Congress stronghold, the Latur (SC) Lok Sabha constituency in Marathwada had diverted course during three distinct political waves in 1977, 2014 and 2019.

The region is also known for giving the first Speaker of the lower house of parliament from Maharashtra — Shivraj V. Patil (1991-1996), and a rare distinction of giving two state Chief Ministers — the late Shivajirao Patil-Nilangekar and the late Vilasrao Deshmukh.

More recently, Shivraj Patil, 89, had shot to fame in 2008 for adopting a principled stand when he was the Union Minister for Home Affairs (from 2004) in the cabinet of ex-Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

In the wake of the deadly Mumbai terror attacks of 26/11, 2008, the Latur strongman owned up moral responsibility for the security lapses and resigned as the Home Minister four days later (November 30, 2008).

Nevertheless, Patil’s dream run in electoral politics ended in 2004, when the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Rupa D. Patil-Nilangekar — the daughter-in-law of the ex-CM — emerged as a giant killer by defeating the Congressman and 7-term Lok Sabha veteran.

For the ongoing 2024 LS polls, the BJP has repeated its sitting MP Sudhakar Shrangare who will lock horns with INDIA-MVA-Congress’ Dr. Shivaji B. Kalge and Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi’s Narsingh N. Udgirkar.

Considering the importance of Latur (SC) for its traditional support to the Congress, the party’s senior leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra addressed her maiden election rally in 10 years here on April 27 for Kalge and received an overwhelming response, for the May 7 elections.

Holding sway over it for 11 LS elections since 1962, the Latur (SC) seat crumbled under the anti-Congress sentiments of 1977 and later in the BJP waves of 2014-2019, and this time the grand old party is making an all-out attempt to reclaim it, given the massive grassroots support it still commands here.

The Latur (SC) constituency comprises six assembly segments of which one is with BJP, one with NCP and the remaining four are with the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies.

They are — Nilanga (BJP MLA Sambhaji Patil-Nilangekar — son of Rupa D. Patil-Nilangekar); Udgir (NCP MLA Sanjay Bansode); besides the MVA in Loha (PWP MLA Shyamsundar Shinde); Ahmedpur (NCP-SP MLA Babasaheb Patil); Latur City (Congress MLA Amit Vilasrao Deshmukh) and his sibling in Latur Rural (Congress MLA Dhiraj V. Deshmukh).

A dry and hot part of Marathwada region, Latur district — in which the Latur (SC) seat is situated — has a history dating back to 13 centuries, with different dynasties ruling over it.

In modern times, the entire progressive region suffered a massive setback after the September 30, 1993 ‘Latur Earthquake’ from which it gradually revived and is now prospering, the region has the distinction of giving several state and national political bigwigs and other notables from the entertainment industry, mostly from the powerful Deshmukh clan.

They included the state’s first Lok Sabha Speaker Shivraj Patil, two ex-CMs, Shivajirao Patil-Nilangekar who resigned after a scam and Vilasrao Deshmukh who quit after the Mumbai 26/11 terror strikes, plus state ministers like Keshavrao Sonawane and Sambhaji Patil-Nilangekar.

Well-known Bollywood and Marathi film actor-filmmaker Riteish Deshmukh (who is the son of Vilasrao Deshmukh) also hails from Latur, while his two brothers are currently MLAs there, and sisters-in-law are also prominent names in the film industry.