Congress satrap Balasaheb Vikhe leaves behind rich legacy

Congress satrap Balasaheb Vikhe leaves behind rich legacy

CAMIL PARKHE | Saturday, 31 December 2016 AT 06:03 PM IST

    

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Balasaheb Vikhe Patil , death, Congress, Ahmednagar, profile, Sakal Times  

Eknath Vitthalrao alias Balasaheb Vikhe Patil who died on Friday was a veteran Congressman who steadfastly maintained his fiefdom in Maharashtra and in his Ahmednagar home district for a stretch of over four decades. The change of political tides in the state or the country did not wither away his influence and clout as he skillfully managed to ride over these changes to his own advantages. A seven terms Lok Sabha member from Ahmednagar district, he was one of the senior most members of the lower house of Parliament. He was part of the young, new faces chosen by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1970s after she had succeeded in defying the Congress party's old guards.

But when Rajiv Gandhi succeeded his mother in 1984, the young prime minister was wary of the old brigade and Vikhe, like Vasantdada Patil, was one of such party veterans. Vikhe soon fell into bad books with Rajiv Gandhi, was denied the Congress nomination in 1991 general polls and therefore chose to contest as a rebel against the Congress nominee Yashwantrao Gadakh in Ahmednagar constituency, The election in this constituency was postponed following assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and in the subsequent sympathy wave, the Congress had managed to win back power in the country. That was the only time Balasaheb Vikhe tasted a defeat in his political career.

Balasaheb Vikhe's name often popped as a probable candidate whenever there were moves to replace the Congress chief minister in Maharashtra. But the chief minister's post or even a berth in the Union ministry eluded him. Hurt by his sidelining by the Congress high command, Vikhe chose to change his party affiliations when the Shiv Sena-BJP combine came to power in Maharashtra in 1995. His strategy paid dividends as his son, Radhakrishna Vikhe, was accommodated as a cabinet minister in Maharashtra and when the BJP formed a coalition government at the Centre, Balasaheb Vikhe too was rewarded the post of a union minister of state. When Congress returned to power in Maharashtra in 1999, both the senior and junior Vikhes returned to the Congress, with Radhakrishna Vikhe holding a cabinet minister's post in the Congress party's 15 year-long uninterrupted rule in the state.

The political clout Balasaheb Vikhe enjoyed can be attributed to the oasis of development he created in the Loni-Pravaranagar belt in the drought-prone Ahmednagar district. Balasaheb's father, Vitthalrao Vikhe, had pioneered the cooperative sugar factory movement in Asia when he established the Pravaranagar cooperative sugar factory (now named after him) in 1948. Balasaheb who served as an office-bearer of Ahmednagar Zilla Parishad for a decade later entered the national political scene with his debut in Parliament in 1971. The network of educational institutions, cooperative bodies, engineering and medical colleges and hospital established by him near Loni helped the Vikhe Patil family to establish close rapport with the local people and thus build a strong political base. That is the reason Balasaheb's son Radhakrishna Vikhe was able to survive the Modi wave in the 2014 assembly polls in the state.

Balasaheb Vikhe belonged to the old genre of cooperative movement leaders who were known for their strong grass root base, political acumen and vision for development. Their rich experience and strong mass base was also responsible for their party high command being wary of their power. Balasaheb Vikhe was one of such last Congress regional satraps who outsmarted their political rivals within and outside their political parties. He has left behind a rich legacy.