Banners have come up in West Nagpur asking BJP and Congress to nominate Hindi speaking candidates

Nagpur: The clamour and intense lobbying for the last two months in the city for a Hindi-speaking candidate (non-Marathi) manifested itself on Wednesday with flex hoardings put up all over West Nagpur . With just a day left for the start of filing nominations for the October 21 state elections, this language divide could cause a new problem for the political parties.

This demand for giving representation to a Hindi-Bhashi cannot be easily brushed aside because of the sizeable number of voters from non-Hindi speaking population who have settled in the city for generations. They comprise those who migrated here for employment in large number of Central government offices located in the city as well a larger community of traders and businessmen who have made Nagpur their home.

The situation changed after Nagpur along with the 10 districts of Vidarbha were merged into Marathi speaking state of Maharashtra. The state was formed in 1960 ignoring the demand for a Vidarbha state that was almost considered by the Fazal Ali Commission.

It is argued that the merger was done for the political convenience of Congress which did not want to lose control of financial hub of the then Bombay.

Major parties like Congress and Jansangh always considered this non-Marathi population factor. Jansangh for years fielded Ramprakash Ahuja for Lok Sabha though he never won. A Parsi, Gev Awari , won the Lok Sabha elections from city in 1977 defeating Jambuwant Dhote , the tallest pro-Vidarbha leader. Dhote was Marathi while Parsi community was minuscule. Awari also has credit of defeating Nitin Gadkari in Vidhan Sabha elections of 1985.

More prominently, Satish Chaturvedi , a Hindi-speaking Congress leader represented East Nagpur for three decades and held several ministerial posts. In 1985, when he was denied ticket by the Congress, another Hindi Bhashi Avinash Pande was victorious from that seat defeating Chaturvedi who contested as a rebel independent.

Banwarilal Purohit, a Marwadi, was MLA from West Nagpur on Congress ticket before he became MP and later got elected to Lok Sabha as BJP nominee.

So, practically, all major political parties always saw electoral merits in Hindi speaking candidates.

Since July, cutting across party affiliations, several meetings of Hindi Bhashi Sangh were organized in the city to mount pressure for candidature of a non-Marathi from West Nagpur seat. Chaturvedi is not interested any more in contesting though his suspension has been revoked by the Congress party recently.

Those keen for the ticket are Krishna Kumar Pande, a very senior Congress worker and national adviser of Seva Dal, and Dayashankar Tiwari of the BJP. Both have applied to their respective parties for candidature from Nagpur West. Jaiprakash Gupta who shifted to the BJP from Congress years ago, is keen on ticket from Nagpur central.

The posters seeking ticket for Hindi Bhashi do not mention any name and interestingly have colours of both the Congress and BJP flags. But within the Congress, there is simmering anger among Hindi speaking workers that the party is obsessed with Kunbis. The resentment has been seen in social media posts. More so because in recent Lok Sabha elections all Congress candidates were Kunbis. “If only one community gets representations, why would other linguistic groups even work or vote for the Congress?” said a local leader warning of serious repercussions in coming election if the demand of Hindi Bhashis is ignored.

ELECTED LEADERS

Prominent Hindi speaking leaders who got elected from Nagpur for Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha:

Gev Awari (Parsi), Banwarilal Purohit (Marwadi), Satish Chaturvedi (migrant from UP), Avinash Pande

