Ahead of even filing nominations for the Lok Sabha elections, both sitting MP Sujay Vikhe-Patil of the BJP and Nilesh Lanke (who quit as Parner MLA and left the NCP-Ajit Pawar group to join the NCP-Sharad Pawar one) have embarked on a vigorous campaign in Ahmednagar (Ahilyanagar).
Be it actively participating in religious events, celebrating party workers’ birthday celebrations to even engaging in verbal sparring matches, both Vikhe-Patil and Lanke are not leaving any stone unturned to clinch success at the elections.
On Vikhe-Patil’s recent remark challenging Lanke, who is the MVA candidate, to list any of his achievements in the constituency in English or Hindi, Lanke pointed out that one need not be fluent in the language to be able to accomplish major tasks.
In an indirect reference to Sujay Vikhe-Patil being a doctor (neurosurgeon), Lanke told The Indian Express, “I am like Munna Bhai MBBS (the protagonist in the Hindi film by the same name) who could win people’s hearts,” and added how he helped more than 33,000 people during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lanke said he has started his door-to-door meet at the villagers’ campaign from April 1.
“It is all about meeting the people and addressing their concerns. We are often told by our supporters that a particular village could fetch more than 70 per cent of votes and another will get 80 per cent votes. But I want to personally visit each village and meet the people and take their blessings,” Lanke said.
As part of his Swabhiman Jan Samvad Yatra, Lanke said he would visit close to 300 villages by the end of his tour by April 19 and is expected to file his nomination for the Lok Sabhelections by April 23.
If Lanke’s team has been capturing their candidate’s visits to villages and religious fairs and posting them on social media platforms, Vikhe-Patil’s team has been actively engaged in rolling out the sitting MP’s achievements during his five-year tenure.
“Sujay Vikhe-Patil starts his day at 6 am and would be busy attending people’s events at booths and across public meetings. He has urged people to judge him by the work that he has done in Ahmednagar,” Vikhe-Patil’s supporters told The Indian Express.
Vikhe-Patil ensures that he closely interacts with booth workers and guides them on how best the works done in Ahmednagar should reach the people. At a large motorcycle rally and gathering at Shrigonda, Ahmednagar, Vikhe-Patil told workers to ignore the Opposition claims and refrain from commenting on them.
“As guided by PM Narendra Modi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, the focus should be on the works done for the people in the constituency and the welfare schemes that have been implemented for people,” Vikhe-Patil said.
At various meetings, supporters have also captured videos and images of people wanting a `selfie’ with Vikhe-Patil to upload on their channel.
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