MLC polls: Gadkari confidant's revolt may have hurt BJP in RSS bastion Nagpur

Nitin Gadkari (File Photo)

NAGPUR: Abhijit Wanjarri’s victory for a second consecutive term in the RSS citadel, home turf of Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister Nitin Gadkari, dealt BJP a major setback in its strongest political bastion and sharpened qu­estions over candidate selection.

He defeated BJP’s Sudhakar Kohale by 3,271 votes.“I used brains against BJP’s might,” he said. He was the lone Congress nominee to win MLC polls held on Oct 23 that covered 28 graduate and teachers’ constituencies across Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and UP.Former MLC Anil Sole, a Gadkari confidant denied a ticket, entered the contest as an Independent and stopped campaigning only after Fadnavis visited his home to resolve the dispute.

The extent to which his rebellion hurt Kohale remains unclear.Over 15,000 votes were declared invalid in Nagpur, including nearly 9,000 ballots allegedly marked with the number ‘2’ against Kohale, but without preferences for the other 37 candidates. High count raised questions over voter error and discontent with candidate selection.Kohale said he would appeal against the invalid votes.Nagpur was a prestigious seat for BJP: Gadkari represented the graduates’ constituency from 1990 to 2014.

Chandrashekhar Bawanku­le, who was in charge of the campaign, accepted responsibility for the defeat. “We will ensure we win the seat in the next polls,” he said.BJP contested three seats in Maharashtra but won only Pune graduates, where Kaustubh Gawade defeated Shiv Sena rebel Sachin Sanap. Sena had earlier backed rebels against BJP nominees in Pu­ne, where the allies clashed over seat-sharing. “We’ll tra­ck down who played spoilsp­ort.

Corrective measures will be taken,” Bawankule said.A BJP member alleged that Sena workers campaigned against its candidate Smita Jadhav in Pune teachers, contributing to her defeat. “Had Mahayuti contested unitedly, we would have won all five seats,” they said.Sena hit back, with its Pune unit chief Ravindra Dhangekar saying BJP should stop taking alliance partners for granted. “The verdict has come as a reality check for BJP,” he said.Aurangabad graduates’ seat exposed another rift within Mahayuti, as NCP-SP’s Pratapsinh Patil defeated NCP nominee Satish Chavan.Sena veteran Abdul Sattar admitted backing Sharad Pawar’s candidate instead of his alliance partner’s nominee, blaming NCP’s choice of candidate. “This time, the candidate selection was wrong, so we did not campaign for him,” Sattar said, adding educated voters were moving away from the alliance.NCP failed to open its account. Party chief Sunetra Pawar said every electoral outcome offers a lesson.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis shares stage with Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS head Raj Thackeray in Mumbai Thursday. Fadnavis said such bonhomie is ‘part of the state’s political tradition’