BJP to review Nagpur graduates' seat defeat, will check if Mahayuti allies did not work: Bawankule

Maharashtra minister and senior BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule said on Thursday that the party will introspect on its defeat in the Nagpur graduates' constituency in the recently held Legislative Council elections. He said a review will also look into whether any constituent of the Mahayuti alliance did not work for the candidates.

According to Bawankule, the BJP had given importance to the Nagpur graduates' and Pune seats and had made extensive plans to win them. He said the party has accepted the result.

Bawankule was in charge in Nagpur. Accepting personal responsibility for the defeat there, he said: "We made a lot of effort, and our party workers and leaders met the voters of the graduates' constituency. Even so, some shortcomings seem to have remained. We will introspect to understand the reasons for the defeat."

Asked whether the Shiv Sena, an ally in the Mahayuti, had not supported the BJP, Bawankule said: "Instead of blaming one another, we will review which constituent of the Mahayuti did not work for the alliance's candidate."

Speaking about the Amravati constituency, Bawankule said Shiv Sena leader and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had sought help from the BJP. After that, BJP MLAs and MPs joined the campaign for the alliance's candidate.

"Our MLAs and MPs went to Amravati and campaigned for their candidate. But in some places, coordination within the alliance was not visible. The three parties of the Mahayuti will discuss this," he said.

Bawankule also said the alliance will examine whether the instructions given by the respective party leaderships were followed at the lower levels, and whether anyone worked against the party's stand or against the understanding among the constituent parties.

"We will see whether the clear instructions of the party leadership were followed on the ground. We will identify those who worked against the party's stand or the Mahayuti's understanding and admonish them," he said.

On the Pune teachers' constituency, Bawankule said there was an openly acknowledged friendly contest between constituents of the alliance, and the BJP won the seat. The Shiv Sena had backed an independent candidate there.

Bawankule added that if there are instances in other constituencies where constituent parties did not honour the understanding to support one another's candidates, the BJP will review those too.

Voting for the Pune graduates', Nagpur graduates', Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar graduates', Pune teachers' and Amravati teachers' constituencies was held on October 23. Counting began on October 27 and results were declared on October 28.

The BJP, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party led by Sunetra Pawar are the main constituents of the Mahayuti.