The Congress called the shots in Latur in the Marathwada region in Maharashtra for decades, riding on the back of some influential political families. The party lost its ground in the district following the decline of these families or the switch of some of their descendants to the BJP.

In the recent Lok Sabha polls, the Congress succeeded in wresting the Latur seat from the BJP after a decade, even as it emerged as the largest party in the state by winning 13 seats of 30 secured by the INDIA bloc out of 48 (as against the ruling Mahayuti’s 17).

Buoyed by its performance after suffering several desertions, the Congress is now hoping to reclaim its dominant position in Latur in the November 20 Assembly elections, with the Deshmukh family playing its pivot in the belt.

In the 2019 Assembly polls, of the six seats in Latur, the Congress, undivided NCP and BJP won two seats each. While the Congress bagged Latur City and Latur Rural, the NCP got Ahmadpur and Udgir, and the BJP won from Nilanga and Ausa.

This time, the Congress is contesting from three seats – Latur City, Latur Rural and Nilanga – against the BJP. The Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) and the Ajit Pawar-headed NCP are taking on each other in Ahmadpur and Udgir, while the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) is fighting against the BJP in Ausa.

The Congress’s charge in the district is being led by three-term MLA and ex-minister Amit Deshmukh, 48, son of former chief minister late Vilasrao Deshmukh, who is contesting from his Latur City seat.

The two-term CM Vilasrao, who passed away in 2012, was a state Congress stalwart and Maratha leader who played a key role in the development of Latur, which is predominantly rural. The Deshmukh family’s ancestral house in Babhalgaon village continues to be a hub of the Congress activities in the district.

The BJP has fielded a debutant against Amit – Archana Patil-Chakurkar, the daughter-in-law of former Union Home minister Shivraj Patil, one of the close confidants of the Gandhi family. Shivraj, who belongs to the Lingayat community, held the Latur Lok Sabha seat for seven terms till 2004, when he lost to the BJP’s Rupatai Patil-Nilangekar. He has now remained “politically inactive” for a long time.

Archana hopes to cash in on “local anti-incumbency” and the Lingayat vote to beat Amit. “As I travel for campaigning, I hear complaints of non-availability of the MLA (Amit) in the constituency. The process of development that halted after the unfortunate demise of Vilasrao Deshmukh ji, should be taken forward,” she says.

Archana is also hoping for women vote consolidation in her favour. “We are doing a door-to-door campaign in the constituency and telling people that I won’t be a distant MLA like the present one. Women across communities are coming out in my support due to benefits under the Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme (which provides Rs 1,500 monthly allowance to underprivileged women),”she says.

In Latur City, Marathas and Lingayats account for about 26% and 25% of the population, with Dalits and Muslims making up 23% and 29% of it.

For his part, Amit has kept its sights on not only retaining his seat but also on emerging as the Congress’s face in the Maratha-dominated Marathwada region. “Latur district has always been the Congress fort and we are committed to bring back its glory,” he says.

Amit has been campaigning extensively for the Congress in the upcoming polls, especially in Marathwada region. After the crossover of Ashok Chavan, former Congress CM and Nanded heavyweight, to the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Amit has emerged as the grand old party’s key leader

in Marathwada. He played a key role in ensuring the party’s win in three Lok Sabha seats (Latur, Nanded and Jalna) out of seven in the region.

“He (Amit) was waiting for the right time to lead the party. The perfect timing was Ashok Chavan’s departure and now he is the face of the party in the region,” says one of his close aides.

Another ex-Congress CM from Latur, late Shivajirao Patil-Nilangekar’s grandson and Rupatai’s son Sambhaji Patil-Nilangekar is seeking his third term from the Nilanga seat, where the Congress has fielded a debutant and farmer leader Abhay Salunkhe.

In Latur Rural, Amit’s younger brother Dheeraj Deshmukh is taking on BJP MLC and education baron Ramesh Karad, an OBC leader.

“Strong Maratha sentiment can be seen all over Latur. But more than caste equations, Latur votes on peace, businesses running without fear and administration running without interference,” says Abdul Shaikh, a local resident.

A Latur City resident Shashikant Jadhav says the Deshmukh brothers are facing a “tough battle for sure”. “Look at the past elections, there was no real competition. This time the caste equations are tricky and may force them to sweat out,” he says.

An Ausa businessman Avinash Bansode says, “One of the factors behind the Deshmukh family’s hold over Latur is a network of local sugar mills it has controlled, which has led to the development of their workers and the entire belt.”

Vilasrao’s brother Dilip Deshmukh, an influential Congress leader known for working behind the scenes, says: “In politics, character matters. MLAs or MPs come with an expiry date of five years, but not the character of a politician. It stays forever and we as a family believe in it. No matter, who goes where, we stand where we are.”

Dilip also says, “Till now, we never interfered in Nilanga or anywhere else because earlier there were senior leaders (from the Congress). But since some of them have gone to the other side (BJP), people with Congress ideology are coming to us and we have to support them.”

The Deshmukh brothers have been credited with helping the Congress pick Abhay Salunkhe for the Nilanga seat. Salunkhe thanks them for “trusting” him against BJP heavyweight Sambhaji. “I am not here to write my name on papers, I am here to write my name on your hearts,” Salunkhe told a gathering at Jajnur village in the constituency.