Congress candidate Abhijeet Wanjari successfully defended his legislative council seat against BJP rival Sudhakar Kohale following an exhaustive counting operation lasting more than 40 hours. The result tilted the regional balance, giving the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi three total victories compared to two secured by the ruling Mahayuti coalition. The outcome also triggered immediate political friction, with state Congress leadership calling out Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over a deleted post that initially claimed Congress had drawn a blank.
Key points
The Nagpur defeat directly impacts senior BJP figures who consider the constituency their…: The Nagpur defeat directly impacts senior BJP figures who consider the constituency their primary political home base.
State Congress leadership seized on the outcome to challenge public statements earlier ma…: State Congress leadership seized on the outcome to challenge public statements earlier made by ruling coalition leaders.
NCP leader Praful Patel called for an organizational review after the party suffered a lo…: NCP leader Praful Patel called for an organizational review after the party suffered a loss in its contested seat.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Mumbai: Congress candidate Abhijeet Wanjari was on Thursday declared the winner in the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections from Nagpur after a keenly-watched vote counting exercise that stretched for more than 40 hours.
Wanjari defeated BJP's Sudhakar Kohale by 3,271 votes to retain the Nagpur Division Graduates' constituency seat, which has been a traditional stronghold of the saffron party.
The counting of votes began on Tuesday morning and concluded in the wee hours of Thursday.
Wanjari, a sitting MLC, secured 67,231 votes, while Kohale, a former MLA, got 63,960 votes.
It is a big setback for the BJP as it has lost in the hometown of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari who had campaigned extensively for Kohale.
Gadkari was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from the Nagpur graduates' constituency for 24 years, from July 1990, to May 2014.
With the Congress nominee's victory, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi has won three of the five MLC seats in the October 23 elections. The BJP-led ruling Mahayuti alliance got two seats.
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