Nagpur/Alive News: Congress has won the Nagpur Graduates’ Constituency election to the Maharashtra Legislative Council for the second consecutive time, defeating the BJP in a seat considered a stronghold of the ruling party.
Following the victory, the Congress took a swipe at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, claiming that he had shared a social media post mocking the party before the final results were announced and later deleted it.
According to the Congress, Fadnavis had shared a post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioning the party’s performance in the MLC elections. Modi had written, “Elections for 28 MLC seats in four states were held using ballot papers. Guess how many seats Congress won?”
The Congress alleged that Fadnavis added a remark suggesting that the party had failed to win any seats. However, the Congress subsequently won the Nagpur constituency, prompting the opposition party to claim that the political jibe had backfired. It also alleged that Fadnavis later deleted the post.
Nagpur is the home turf of Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. The city also houses the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and is considered a traditional BJP stronghold. The Congress victory is therefore being viewed as a setback for the BJP in its stronghold.
Congress Candidate Wins After More Than 40 Hours of Counting
Voting for the Nagpur Graduates’ Constituency was held on October 23, while counting began on October 27 and concluded on the morning of October 29. The counting process continued for more than 40 hours.
BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohle led in the initial rounds. After the first-preference votes were counted, Kohle secured 60,924 votes, while Congress candidate Abhijeet Vanjari received 56,630 votes. Independent candidate Nitesh Karale secured 24,249 votes.
As no candidate reached the required quota for victory, the counting proceeded to second-preference votes. Vanjari gained the lead in the subsequent rounds and eventually won the election.
Vanjari secured 67,231 votes, defeating Kohle, who received 63,960 votes.
Abhijeet Vanjari Wins Second Consecutive Term
Abhijeet Vanjari, a lawyer and educationist, first won the Nagpur Graduates’ Constituency in 2020 by defeating BJP candidate Sandeep Joshi. With his latest victory, he has secured a second consecutive term in the Maharashtra Legislative Council.
Vanjari has a background in student politics. He served as general secretary of the Maharashtra unit of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) from 1998 to 2002. He later held organisational positions in the Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress and the Nagpur District Congress Committee.
