Latur civic poll verdict seen as endorsement of Vilasrao Deshmukh's legacy

Latur, Jan 16 (PTI) The Congress's clear victory in the Latur Municipal Corporation on Friday showed that late party stalwart Vilasrao Deshmukh's legacy resonates in the central Maharashtra city and the state BJP chief's controversial comment during the campaign backfired.

Ravindra Chavan, state BJP chief, had said during the campaign that the memories of Deshmukh, a two-time chief minister and popular politician from the Marathwada region who died in 2012, would be "wiped out" from his hometown Latur.

The Congress on Friday secured 43 seats in the 70-member Latur civic body, followed by the BJP (22), Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (4) and the Nationalist Congress Party (1).

In the last elections in 2017, the BJP had won 36 seats with the Congress coming a close second with 33 seats.

Political observers believe Chavan's remarks consolidated votes in favour of the Grand Old Party.

The strong reactions his comment evoked showed the emotional connect Vilasrao Deshmukh's memory holds in Marathwada, political observers said.

As chief minister, Deshmukh avoided aggressive rhetoric and relied on consensus-building, deftly negotiating coalition politics as Congress shared power with Sharad Pawar's NCP in the state. PTI MR KRK