Daijiworld Media Network - Nagpur
Nagpur, Oct 29: In a setback for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress has won the Nagpur Graduates’ constituency in the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, with sitting MLC Abhijeet Wanjari defeating BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale by 3,271 votes.
Wanjari secured 67,231 votes against Kohale’s 63,960, while independent candidate Nitesh Karale received 24,249 votes, according to election officials.
Kohale had initially taken the lead after the second round of counting on Wednesday, securing 60,924 first-preference votes against Wanjari’s 56,630, a margin of 4,294 votes. However, as no candidate obtained the required quota, the counting proceeded to second-preference votes. Wanjari eventually emerged victorious with 67,231 votes, while Kohale finished with 63,960 votes.
Nagpur is the hometown of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. The Nagpur Division Graduates’ constituency had been represented by Gadkari for several terms. In the previous election, Wanjari defeated BJP candidate Sandip Joshi.
Meanwhile, the BJP has targeted Congress over its performance in Legislative Council elections held across Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka, where ballot papers were used. The party cited the results to counter Congress’ allegations of electoral irregularities involving electronic voting machines (EVMs) and its demand to restore paper ballots.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took a swipe at Congress in a post on X, referring to elections for 28 Legislative Council seats across the four states.
“MLC elections in 28 seats across 4 big states – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Elections were held using ballot papers. Guess how many seats Congress won?” Modi wrote.
The results have triggered a fresh political exchange, with the BJP questioning Congress’ allegations of EVM manipulation by pointing to its performance in ballot-paper elections. Congress has repeatedly raised concerns over the reliability of EVMs and called for a return to paper ballots.