‘Congress-mukt’ Vid soon in Parliament

Nagpur: Close on the heels of Tamil Nadu becoming ‘Congress mukt’ in Parliament, it’s Vidarbha region’s turn now. Once its impregnable fort, the party will have no representation in Parliament from this monsoon session. The announcement on Saturday by the Congress high command to nominate former finance minister P Chidambaram from Maharashtra for the Rajya Sabha seat ended chances of the two retiring Congerss members from Vidarbha -- Vijay Darda and Avinash Pande -- getting another term.Quite a reversal of fortunes for the party that till 2014 elections had four representatives in Parliament from Nagpur district itself with Vilas Muttemwar and Mukul Wasnik in Lok Sabha and Darda and Pande in House of Elders.
The state legislators will elect six members to Rajya Sabha on June 10 in the biennial election. With number of MLAs barely enough to elect only one member, the Congress preferred to field Chidambaram over party loyalist Pande and media baron Darda considering that the party needs articulate and effective speakers to make up for the fast depleting strength in the Upper House.
In the process, Vidarbha may lose out as it may not have access to local area funds of two MPs who were from the region. With another ‘outsider’ Rajeev Shukla already in RS from Maharashtra quota, many state leaders had evinced interest in the seat. But the party surprised them all.
In May 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress lost all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Vidarbha as the Modi wave swept across the state. Of the 48 seats, the Congress could win only two — Ashok Chavan from Nanded and Rajeev Satav from Hingoli.
Not only leaders but grass roots workers are depressed over the declining fortunes of the Congress in Vidarbha which was one of the strongest fort of the party little over a decade ago. In fact, in 1998 Lok Sabha elections, when the Congress was not even in power in the state or at the Centre, the Congress along with its pre-poll allies performed its best -- winning all 11 seats. That time Ranjit Deshmukh was the state Congress president and Sharad Pawar (who was then in the Congress) incharge of the poll management. That Lok Sabha had short life of 13 months as the Vajpayee government lost vote of confidence. But from that position of strength, the Congress is now on way to a zilch in both Houses of Parliament.
Declining Fortunes
State legislators will elect, on June 10, six members to Rajya Sabha in the biennial election
Congress prefers to nominate P Chidambaram from Maharashtra for the Rajya Sabha seat
Chances end for Vijay Darda and Avinash Pande, both retiring RS members
Congress will have no representation from Vid in either House of the Parliament
Till 2014 elections, four representatives in Parliament were from Nagpur district itself