The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
‘I, Nilesh Dyandev Lanke…’ Why floor belonged to this MP in Parliament
NILESH LANKE won twice. The first time was on June 4, when the NCP (SP) leader defeated his heavyweight BJP rival, Sujay Vikhe-patil, from Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. The second time was Tuesday, when the firsttimer MP stepped up to take the oath in Parliament and began with the words, “I, Nilesh Dyandev Lanke…”.
All the way to Ahmednagar, the words rang loud and clear. During the poll campaign, Lanke’s BJP rival — belonging to the powerful Vikhe-patil family – had mocked him, saying Lanke did not know either English or Hindi. Throwing a challenge, Sujay Vikhe-patil had shared a video clip with the media, and said: “If he (Lanke) manages to speak even this much Hindi and English (as in the video), I will not file my nomination.”
A day later, with Parliament having wrapped up the swearing-in and taken off to a tumultuous start, Lanke admits he is a contented man. Speaking in Marathi, he tells The Indian Express over the phone: “Nothing is impossible in this world. Nobody is born with special abilities, everybody learns to swim when thrown in the water. I am like that.”
The 44-year-old says he chose not to respond to Vikhe-patil’s barbs during the campaign deliberately. “I did not reply to anybody then, rather I bypassed the topic asking people whether they wanted an MP who will work for them or one who can speak English… People chose me over my opponent,” he says.
In Ahmednagar, few disagree that Lanke’s actions speak louder than his words, one reason why the battle-seasoned Sharad Pawar trusted him to take on Vikhe-patil. The rivalry between the Pawars and Vikhe-patils dates back four decades, with Sujay a fourth-generation politician from his family. Earlier in the Congress, the Vikhe-patils, who have hitched their wagon to the BJP now, command Ahmednagar through an empire that spreads from cooperatives to educational institutes. Sujay’s father Radhakrishna Vikhe-patil is Maharashtra’s Revenue Minister.
In contrast, Lanke was born to a primary school teacher, with no political background. He was drawntopoliticsafterasmallhotel he ran in his native village ran aground, and joined the Shiv Sena (then united) at a very early age. After Lanke lost the first election he fought, to a panchayat samiti, he decided to hunker down and work among the public.
Lanke’s focus area initially were the youth, and he earned much goodwill for getting many of them jobs in an industrial park coming up in Supa. In 2017, he contested again, and won in the Ahmednagar zilla parishad election by the highest margin in the district.
A year later, Lanke quit the
Sena, over internal infighting, but did not lose his touch with the people, setting up a Nilesh Lanke Pratishthan. In 2019, he joined the NCP (then united) and defeated an erstwhile Sena rival in the Assembly polls that year.
It was during the Covid-19 pandemic that Lanke’s popularity really soared. Locals talk of him setting up Covid centers down to the village level and personally monitoring relief work and supplying medical aid as well as meal packets. Visuals emerged of him sleeping with relatives of patients on the floor at a time when people shunned contact with Covid patients. When Ajit Pawar split from his uncle Sharad and joined hands with the BJP last year, all eyes were on Lanke as he was known to be a close aide of Ajit. However, Lanke kept his cards close to his chest, and while he sided with Ajit, ensured he never badmouthed Sharad Pawar. Then, just before the start of the election process, Lanke skipped over to the NCP (SP), knowing well that he would never get the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha ticket while the NCP (Ajit Pawar) was in an alliance with the BJP.
Lanke says that it was after he won that he decided to reply in kind to Vikhe-patil’s barb against him over his lack of proficiency in English and Hindi. “At a public rally, I announced that my first words inside Parliament would be in English… After all, English is just a language. Nothing to worry about.”
No, he did not need any “practice”, Lanke adds. "I am an educated man, I understand what is written. Just because I don't look like an elite person, it doesn't mean I can't speak English."
As MP, Lane says he wants to raise the issues of farmers and of milk producers. “I am here to ensure fair prices for their produce. I don’t mind speaking in any language if I can get my voters money for their hard work. I am not going to shy away from raising these issues inside Parliament as well.”
Soon as he had taken the oath Tuesday, came the vote of confidence from his party. Sharad Pawar said he was happy for Lanke. "A mass leader cannot be confined to a language. Taunting him over his choice of language was never a wise move. He replied to it in the right manner.”
Amol Kolhe, NCP (SP) MP from Shirur, posted on X: “Don’t underestimate the power of (the common man)... And yes, You can talk English, walk English… English is a funny language!”