In 2019, he grew to become the CPI(M)’s solely MLA within the Maharashtra Meeting. Vinod Bhiva Nikole is now trying to retain the Scheduled Tribe-reserved Dahanu constituency, this time with the official backing of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.
The 49-year-old Nikole, born to landless Adivasi labourers, had in his 2019 debut election marketing campaign emphasised his humble beginnings – he was the poorest candidate in Maharashtra as per his ballot affidavit, and owned neither a home nor a automobile. In a theme that has continued into his marketing campaign for the November 20 Maharashtra Meeting polls, Nikole is trying to persuade Dahanu voters that he stays very a lot one in all their very own. His printed marketing campaign materials stresses how Nikole has taken to the streets for the rights of farmers and Adivasis, and raised questions within the Meeting too on their points.
“I do know many right here will vote for me as a candidate of the CPI(M). Many others who might not essentially agree with the occasion’s ideology will even vote for me, for who I’m as a person. In these previous 5 years, I’ve remained accessible for all. In these elements, the battle continues to be for primary facilities like electrical energy, water, ration, healthcare, colleges,” Nikole stated.
His marketing campaign has largely been centred on a collection of small-scale public conferences in villages of Dahanu, many with none fanfare or perhaps a stage. CPI(M) Politburo leaders Brinda Karat and Ashok Dhawale, who can also be the president of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), campaigned for Nikole final week. The CPI(M) can also be contesting two different seats – Kalwan in Nashik district and Solapur Metropolis Central, the place it’s engaged in a pleasant combat with MVA ally Congress.
In Dahanu, the CPI(M)’s maintain is credited to the work completed on the grassroots stage by the occasion and affiliated organisations just like the AIKS and Kashtakari Sanghatana, an NGO that works with tribal communities, through the years. The AIKS’s position within the 1975 Warli tribal revolt by means of its leaders Shamrao Parulekar and Godavari Parulekar helped lay the inspiration for the Left. Many who attended Nikole’s public conferences stated they might proceed to vote for the CPI(M) given the occasion and its associates have stood by them on points relating land and forest rights.
In a seat that has traditionally been dominated by the Congress, the CPI(M) has received right here thrice – in 1978, 2009 and 2019. Within the 2019 Meeting elections, Nikole received his first election by about 4,700 votes to wrest the seat from the then incumbent BJP. On the time, he had been unofficially backed by the Congress and the then undivided NCP.
This yr, because the official MVA candidate in Dahanu, Nikole faces competitors from the BJP’s Vinod Medha. Whereas Nikole is banking on his outreach efforts and the CPI(M)’s long-running maintain within the seat, particularly among the many tribal communities together with the Warlis, Medha has been handpicked to garner votes from his hometown within the Talasari taluka, which falls inside the Dahanu constituency and the place the CPI(M) has additionally historically held the panchayat samiti.
Situated about 150km north of Mumbai, Dahanu lies near the Gujarat border. Whereas the BJP is taken into account to have extra assist within the Dahanu metropolis space, the CPI(M) has extra backing within the tribal-dominated areas, together with the Talasari tehsil.
Within the coastal elements of the constituency, the Vadhavan Port undertaking within the neighbouring Palghar constituency has been a contentious concern for the fishing communities right here. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has promised the MVA will cancel the undertaking, for which the inspiration stone was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August, if it involves energy.
“This isn’t going to be a difficulty for voters. They know that the port will solely create employment alternatives for the youth. Persons are additionally specializing in the schemes of this authorities. We now have primarily centered on informing folks in regards to the ongoing schemes and the proposed ones. That alone will persuade voters,” says Jagdish Rajput, former BJP corporator in Dahanu.
However Nikole says he’s in opposition to such bulletins of schemes, together with these within the MVA manifesto. “There must be a promise of employment as an alternative,” he says, including that he’s nonetheless against the Vadhavan Port undertaking and would moderately welcome corporations providing sustainable growth for the area.
