Nagpur.
“East Nagpur, constituting Kalamna Market, Nandanwan, Itwari, Shanti Nagar, Sidheshwar Wadi Kharabi road, Lakkadganj etc. has a mixed population of Marathi. Marwari, Sindhi, Muslims and many others. It is truly cosmopolitan and mirrors the real India. Congress leaders have done a lot to develop this area for many years and people haven’t forgotten that. They brought Asia’s biggest agricultural market to Kalamna, I will take the development forward by creating world class facilities for farmers, traders and others coming here.”Declared Mr. Abhijeet Wanjari, scion of late Shri Govindrao Wanjari, contesting elections for the first time on a Congress ticket.
South Nagpur had been the constituency that his father used to contest and win from but that has gone to another Congressman while Mr. Satish Chaturvedi’s constituency has fallen in Mr. Abhijeet Wanjari’s lot. It may be recalled that the late Shri Govindrao had won this seat in his last elections, but passed away suddenly before taking oath.Yet, the family was not able to retain this seat.
When asked if he was upset about not getting nominated from Nagpur South, Mr. Wanjari said “Tradition and politics are two different things.The BJP Government has failed so spectacularly in making good any their promises in the first 100 days that people are disillusioned already. Moreover the sitting BJP MLA, has done nothing for this area in the five years he has had. I feel very confident that I will get a thumping mandate from the people. The Congress party has selected a good mix of experience and youth, and been careful to represent everyone in their candidates from Nagpur. It is definite to get positive results”.
“Not only has the selection been made wisely, despite the last minute split from the NCP, there is tremendous unity among Congressmen “( a dig at the BJP camps?) ” and we are all in a very positive and optimistic mood. We shall form the Government again, there is no doubt of that” asserted Abhijeet Wanjari.
The Wanjari group of Institutions runs a number of colleges like Govindrao College of Engineering and Technology, Kamla Nehru College of Pharmacy, College of Education and College of Law apart from the Kamla Nehru Mahavidyalaya running multidisciplinary post graduate courses. Since they have made such colossal strides in Education, what does Mr. Wanjari think about the job prospects of youngsters who graduate from Nagpur colleges, Nagpur Today asked him.
“I agree that there is lacuna where job opportunities in Nagpur are concerned, but we shall work on a Vision for Youth to correct that. Not just MIHAN, we shall develop hubs for small industries where by youth can be self employed. Nagpur has been known as a trading centre, so increasing the quality and infrastructure of Kalamna market will open many new opportunities for business there. I will also work on the drinking water, street lights and local roads, which are issues of concern for the local populace. We shall all jointly strive to implement the ‘Advantage Vidarbha’ vision of our C.M. Shri Prithviraj Chavan.”
Finally when we broached upon the very brief period left for elections and campaigning and asked if that was going to be stressful for him and the family, both Abhijeet and his charming wife Smita Wanjari smiled and said ” we are absolutely prepared. Whether it is door to door campaigning, corner or “chuha” meets and usage of the electronic and social media we are ready and shall not repeat the mistakes made during the Loksabha elections where BJP really misused these mediums to spread lies and misinformation.”