India, Aug. 14 -- When Ravindra Dhangekar pulled down the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) stronghold of Kasba Peth in the March 2023 bypolls, he was catapulted onto the national scene even as it was an election covering mere 2.5 lakh voters with half of them turning up at booths.

More than one and a half years later when Dhangekar, an OBC leader, is mostly likely to go to assembly polls again as the Congress candidate amid his subsequent loss in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the challenge before him is to retain the newly created bastion.

To be sure, within the two alliances, Kasba Peth is most likely to be retained in the seat sharing formula by the Congress in Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the BJP from Mahayuti.

Once home to native resident...