Senior BJP leader and sitting Member of Parliament Gopinath Munde will be contesting the Lok Sabha election for the second time from Beed constituency. However, this time around it won’t be a cakewalk for Munde as the Nationalist Congress Party has fielded Education and state Minister Suresh Dhas against him. On the other hand, Aam Aadmi Party has issued ticket to actor Nandu Jadhav. Munde had won the Lok Sabha election from Beed as there was no strong candidate from the NCP to challenge him. However, the scenario is going to be different this time.
Even though Munde was elected as a MP from this constituency but NCP has a strong foothold in this area. Munde is one of the heavy weight leader of Maharashtra and strong competitor of NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Many leaders quit BJP to join NCP hence the party became weak. NCP is keen to defeat Gopinath Munde this time. For achieving this objective the NCP has fielded Suresh Dhas.
Since there is a sizeable number of Marathi voters in Beed constituency it will prove to be a boon for NCP. On the other hand, people belonging to Vanjari Samaj are in minority which makes Munde’s task more difficult. Since NCP have five MLA from this constituency hence there is a more possibility of their victory. Munde’s elder brother Pandit Anna and nephew MLA Dhananjay Munde have quit BJP to join NCP which has strengthened the party. Munde had contested five Rajya Sabha elections and is a prominent OBC leader who fights for the cause of the community. If OBC workers vote for Munde then he is likely to benefit from it.
Even though Gopinath Munde is confident of a victory in the Lok Sabha election but the road ahead doesn’t look smooth for him. If the Marathi votes swing in favour of Suresh Dhas then it will create trouble for Munde. There are seven lakh Marathi voters in Beed constituency while Vanjari voters comprise three lakhs. If Marathi, and Muslim community vote for Dhas then Munde will have to face defeat hence NCP has fielded strong candidate against him. Six assembly seats exist in this constituency out of which five belong to NCP and one belong to the BJP. Gevrai Pandit (NCP), Majalgoa Salunkhe (NCP), Beed Jaydut Kshirsagar (NCP), Suresh Dhas (NCP), Prithviraj Sathe (NCP), Pankaja Munde (BJP) are the candidates in fray from the Beed constituency.
Statistics of 2009 Lok Sabha election
Gopinath Munde (BJP) – 5,53,994
Ramesh Adskar (NCP) – 4,13,042
Machindra Mhaske (BSP) – 25,284
