Not at all, say Prabhu's supporters. They present his work and the developmental tasks he has undertaken in the region -- including the headway they claim he has made in terms of solving its water, road, electricity and unemployment problems in his eight year tenure as MP -- and contrast it with the apathy they say this region, one of the most scenic and one of the most backward in Maharashtra, has endured since Independence.

For them victory is not the question, the margin is. Everywhere Prabhu goes in Rajapur, the message he sends is the same: "There is no doubt we are going to win. What we must do this time is increase the margin of victory."

This former banker has, in fact, steadily increased his victory margin: in 1996, when he trounced Colonel Sudhir Sawant of the Indian National Congress, he polled 44.8 percent of the vote. In 1998, when he beat Machhindra Kambli of the Congress, he polled 50.37 percent of the vote. In 1999, he trounced the venerable Professor Madhu Dandavate (who had represented Rajapur five times before he was beaten by Colonel Sawant in 1991) and grabbed 51.7 percent of the vote.