Nitin Gadkari (File Photo)
He defeated BJP’s Sudhakar Kohale by 3,271 votes. 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. Nagpur was a prestigious seat for BJP: Gadkari represented the graduates’ constituency from 1990 to 2014.
“I used brains against BJP’s might,” he said. “We will ensure we win the seat in the next polls,” he said. “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. Party chief Sunetra Pawar said every electoral outcome offers a lesson.
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. Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who was in charge of the campaign, accepted responsibility for the defeat. Sena veteran Abdul Sattar admitted backing Sharad Pawar’s candidate instead of his alliance partner’s nominee, blaming NCP’s choice of candidate. NCP failed to open its account.