Chavan sanctioned Rs 335 cr for hometown Karad, but nothing to show on ground

Even his closest supporters, however, concede that most of the projects they are meant for are either ongoing and yet to begin. Manohar Shinde, a close Chavan supporter, blames the local zilla parishad for the delays. The parishad is run by the NCP.

“There is no development in the constituency. Elected leaders have taken us for a ride,” says Suman Mange, 55, who lives with her family at Karad’s Lalubhai Chawl.

The lack of proper roads, drainage networks, transportation facilities and jobs in this rapidly urbanising constituency contrasts the region’s resources — it is plush with sugar cooperatives controlled by political heavyweights — and political legacy. Maharashtra’s first chief minister Yeshwantrao Chavan hailed from Karad, which is also the hometown of former cabinet minister Yeshwantrao Mohite, another important figure in the state’s politics. Other ministers elected from the region have included Shyam Asthekar, Dadasaheb Jagtap, and seven-time legislator Vilas Patil-Undalkar.

Other western Maharashtra constituencies well represented politically, such as Baramati, Kolhapur and Indapur, have matched that with development. “The development here does not match even an inch of what has been achieved in Kolhapur,” said the Shiv Sena’s Narendra Patil, who is contesting from Karad North.

Indeed, development is at the centre of the campaign agenda for most of Karad South’s candidates. Chavan is being projected as the “ambassador of development”. Undalkar, a Congress rebel, is wooing voters with “development work” he has helped carry out in his 34 years as MLA. The BJP’s Atul Bhosale has been targeting both Chavan and Undalkar for lack of development, while Congress leader D Y Patil’s son Ajeenkya, who has entered the fray as the Shiv Sena, says development is not what it should have been and that he can better it.