BJP names Sudhakar Kohale for Nagpur graduates' seat; Congress fields sitting MLC Abhijit Wanjari

The BJP has declared former MLA Sudhakar Kohale its official candidate for the Nagpur division graduates' constituency of the Legislative Council. Kohale will file his nomination papers on October 5. His supporters were jubilant as soon as the name was announced.

The seat had been held by the Jana Sangh and the BJP since the first election and had become a BJP stronghold, but the Congress breached it in the last election. This time the BJP wants to win it back at any cost, and the responsibility has been given to Kohale.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had appointed Kohale in charge of graduate voter registration for the Nagpur division about a year ago, and his candidature had been talked about since then. The party sealed it on Sunday. Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule and state president Ravindra Chavan had also expressed a positive view of Kohale's candidature from time to time.

After the announcement, Kohale went straight to Ramgiri, met Chief Minister Fadnavis and thanked him. A BJP core committee meeting was also held in the evening. According to information, the meeting discussed everything from filing the nomination to election strategy.

There had been speculation about the candidate's name for a long time. For the past two months, the name of former MLA Anil Sole was also in the reckoning. A meeting between Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was held last Sunday, but no name emerged then. During this period the names of voter registration co-heads Sudhir Dive and Girish Deshmukh were also discussed, along with those of Kohale and Sole. Sole has now rebelled and announced that he will file his nomination as an independent. Advocate Raman Senad, president of the Lokjagruti Morcha, who was seeking the BJP ticket, will also file his nomination on October 5.

Kohale said, "First of all, I sincerely thank our respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our national BJP president Nitin Nabin, our state president Ravindra Chavan, our state's Chief Minister and our leader, the respected Devendra Fadnavis, our leader, the respected Nitin Gadkari, Bawankule and everyone. For a year I have been going around this region for registration. From the booth level to all the MPs, MLAs, our presidents and BJP workers, everyone worked very hard. The goal we had, for which we made every possible effort, has been achieved. We will win this election."

In the 2020 election, the Congress's Abhijit Wanjari defeated the BJP's Sandip Joshi by 18,910 votes to plant the Congress flag on this seat. The Congress has again fielded Wanjari, its sitting MLC. Wanjari too has been working for a year to a year and a half to retain the seat.

Both the BJP and the Congress made a full effort in the fresh voter registration drive. The BJP has claimed about 1.75 lakh voters registered, while the Congress has claimed more than 1.5 lakh. About 2.5 lakh voters are expected in this election. A close contest between Kohale and Wanjari is therefore widely expected.

Kohale has been a teacher by profession. His political career has run from corporator to MLA, and during this time he was also a trustee of the NIT. He won the 2014 Assembly election from the South Nagpur seat. He has also served as city and district president of the party. In the 2019 Assembly election he was denied the ticket and Mohan Mate was made the candidate. In the last Assembly election he was fielded from West Nagpur but could not win. The party now plans to send him to the Legislative Council from the graduates' seat.