Abhijit Wanjari says public contact is his strength in Nagpur graduates' constituency contest

Abhijit Wanjari, the Congress candidate from the Nagpur division graduates' constituency and the outgoing legislator, said direct contact with people is his greatest strength. He said the struggle on graduates' issues would continue, and that every section of society is today grappling with different problems.

Wanjari said the fight must go on to resolve the concerns of youth, women, farmers, traders, officers and employees. Over the past six years, he said, he had met people in Nagpur, Gondia, Bhandara, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli on a continuous basis and tried to resolve their difficulties, and this would carry on. Among his priorities are the old pension scheme, employment, scholarships and adequate funds for the development boards.

Wanjari presented an account of his six-year tenure. He rejected opponents' allegations that no work was done during his term. Maharashtra Pradesh Congress general secretary Atul Kotecha was also present.

Targeting the Centre and the state government, Wanjari said the country's political and social climate has changed. He said there is anger among youth over matters such as public service commission examinations and the NEET paper leak, and that job opportunities are shrinking. According to him, about 96,000 schools have closed across the country, and the condition of those still running is also worrying.

He said the rules for farm loan waivers are complicated. Under the Ladli Behna scheme, a large number of women have been declared ineligible. He said these factors have increased resentment against the government.

Wanjari claimed that factionalism and a "cold war" within the BJP are at their peak. Despite being in power, he said, the party is on the back foot, and Congress will benefit in the election. He also claimed that the party's senior leaders are united and that Congress is in a strong position because of large-scale voter registration.

Listing his work, he said youth were guided through competitive examination and career guidance fairs. Job fairs were held through the Govindrao Wanjari Foundation, to which MNCs and large companies were invited. More than 8,000 young people in the region got jobs as a result.

On education, Wanjari said about Rs 2,000 crore in RTE dues and Rs 3,200 crore in scholarship dues are outstanding, making it difficult to run educational institutions. There is also a demand to restart the non-salary grant that was discontinued.

According to Wanjari, 2,000 aided schools and colleges of local bodies were given items such as computers, water filters and smart TVs. Of the 1,137 public libraries in the Nagpur division, 300 were given books on competitive examinations and higher education, with each library receiving books worth Rs 2 lakh.

He said that over the past six years all tehsils of the division were visited on issues concerning graduates and teachers. Having been the guardian minister-in-charge of Bhandara district and Gondia earlier, he is now looking after Chandrapur. In this period he travelled more than 3.5 lakh km.