Congress’s miracle in Nagpur, Sharad Pawar group’s victory in Pune, double blow to BJP

Mumbai The results of Maharashtra Legislative Council elections have increased the concern of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and Mahayuti alliance. BJP has faced defeat in the graduate constituencies of Nagpur and Pune. In Nagpur, Congress candidate Abhijit Vanjari retained his seat by defeating BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohle, while in Pune graduates constituency, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidate Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav defeated BJP’s Smita Jadhav. In this election held on five seats, the opposition Mahavikas Aghadi has won three seats and the ruling Mahayuti has won two seats. These results have raised questions about BJP’s candidate selection, dissatisfaction within the organization and election preparations at the grassroots level. Besides, the lack of mutual coordination among the allies of Mahayuti has also come to light.

Voting was held on October 23 for three graduate and two teacher constituencies of the Maharashtra Legislative Council. In the election results, BJP won only in Pune Teachers Constituency. Here party candidate Kaustubh Gawde was victorious. On the other hand, Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena won the Amravati teacher election seat. Kiran Sarnaik won this seat. The Mahayuti’s third major ally, the Nationalist Congress Party, could not get a single seat. In contrast, Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party strengthened its political position by winning Pune and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar graduate seats.

Most of the discussion is going on regarding the result of Nagpur graduate election seat. Nagpur is considered the political stronghold of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. The headquarters of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is also located in this city. In such a situation, the defeat of Nagpur is considered politically important for BJP. Abhijeet Vanjari of Congress defeated Sudhakar Kohle of BJP by 3,271 votes. Vanjari received 67,231 votes, while Kohle received 63,960 votes.

Counting of votes in Nagpur lasted for more than 40 hours. In the initial phase, BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohle was leading. After the second phase of counting, he had a lead of 4,294 votes. However, since no candidate got the prescribed victory quota, second preference votes were counted. In the same process, Congress candidate Abhijeet Vanjari gained the lead and registered victory. Congress’s victory on Nagpur Graduate seat for the second consecutive time has raised questions on BJP’s election strategy.

The Nagpur result is also disappointing for the BJP because Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has represented this constituency from 1990 to 2014. The party has had a strong organizational base here for a long time. Despite this, the victory of Congress candidates in the last two elections has become a matter of concern for the BJP.

There have also been reports of dissatisfaction within the party regarding candidate selection in Nagpur. Senior BJP leader and former Legislative Councilor Anil Sole was said to be angry at not getting the ticket. He had decided to contest the elections as an independent candidate. Later, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met him and tried to resolve the dispute. However, it is not clear how much impact his entry into the election field and subsequent developments had on BJP’s votes.

There has also been news of more than 15 thousand ballot papers being declared invalid in this election. A large number of these were ballot papers on which the process of marking preferences was not completed properly. BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohle has raised objection on the issue of invalid votes. Senior BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who took charge of the election campaign, has accepted the responsibility of the defeat.

BJP has also suffered a major setback in Pune Graduate constituency. Here Sharad Pawar’s party candidate Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav defeated BJP’s Smita Jadhav. Harshada got 1,13,095 votes, while Smita Jadhav got 1,03,395 votes. In this way, the candidate of Sharad Pawar group won by 9,700 votes. Pune is considered the major education center of Maharashtra. BJP’s defeat among graduate voters here is being seen as an important political signal for the party.

Now there is a possibility of brainstorming within the BJP as to why despite having a strong organisation, the party lagged behind in gaining the support of graduate voters. Issues related to education, government recruitment, employment and competitive examinations are considered important for graduate voters. In recent times, there have been reports of dissatisfaction among the youth regarding irregularities in MPSC examinations and complaints related to the recruitment process. In such a situation, BJP feels the need to pay attention to the problems and expectations of the educated youth.

Even within the Mahayuti alliance, allegations and counter-allegations have started after the election results. Differences have emerged between the leaders of BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena regarding electoral cooperation on some seats. Some BJP leaders have accused allies of not providing adequate support. At the same time, candidate selection and presence of rebel candidates are also being counted as possible reasons for defeat. However, the actual impact of these allegations can be assessed only after a detailed election review.

Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel, who is part of the Grand Alliance, has also described the election results as an opportunity for introspection. He believed that the alliance