BJP loses Nagpur graduates' seat to Congress by 3,271 votes; Rohit Pawar taunts Fadnavis

The BJP has lost the Nagpur graduates' constituency election. Congress's Abhijit Wanjari defeated the BJP's Sudhakar Kohale by 3,271 votes in a close contest. Nagpur is the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and is also regarded as the home ground of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. After the BJP's defeat in this city, the Opposition appears buoyed.

After the result, several Congress leaders posted messages taunting the BJP. NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) MLA Rohit Pawar also posted about Chief Minister Fadnavis, referring in it to a tweet Fadnavis had deleted.

Rohit Pawar wrote on X on October 28: "Respected Devendra Fadnavis saheb, you had personally taken interest in the Nagpur graduates' constituency. You had yourself gone door to door to persuade the rebels to withdraw from the contest. In that same Nagpur constituency, in the area that houses the Sangh headquarters, the BJP had to see defeat. The meaning is plain. I am sorry that you had to delete your tweet. But the ego of power that shows in your deleted tweet is not right. Anyway, I can understand. Perhaps you forgot that the election was held on ballot papers, which is why the tweet must have been posted earlier. Congratulations to the winning candidate Abhijit Wanjari, thanks to the graduate voters who blessed him with their votes, and best wishes to all the candidates who contested." He tagged Fadnavis, the Maharashtra Congress and Wanjari in the post.

After this exchange between Rohit Pawar and Congress leaders, all eyes are now on what Devendra Fadnavis says about the defeat in Nagpur.

The BJP had put its full strength into winning the seat. The party had said the entire organisation was working together. Fadnavis had gone to the home of rebel Anil Sole to persuade him to step back. In the final phase of campaigning, senior leaders such as Chief Minister Fadnavis, Nitin Gadkari and Chandrashekhar Bawankule took the field. The defeat despite this is much discussed in political circles.

The figures: Congress's Abhijit Wanjari got a total of 67,231 votes, counting first and second preferences. His rival, the BJP's Sudhakar Kohale, got 63,960 votes. Wanjari thus won by a margin of 3,271 votes. Independent candidate Nitesh Karale polled a total of 25,909 votes.