Congress's Abhijit Wanjari wins Nagpur graduates' seat, defeating BJP's Sudhakar Kohle

Elections were held recently in Maharashtra for three graduates' and two teachers' seats in the Legislative Council. The Nagpur graduates' seat drew the most attention. Nagpur is regarded as the RSS's bastion, so the result was watched across the country.

Congress's Abhijit Wanjari defeated BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohle on this seat. The result is being described as a major setback for the BJP. The main reason for the BJP's defeat in Nagpur has now emerged as well.

During the counting, when the count of second-preference votes on Nitesh Karale's ballot papers began at night, the whole picture changed. Wanjari's lead began to grow rapidly, and the mood among Congress workers turned celebratory.

Kohle had refused to believe it. He said plainly, "Congress has started celebrating, but we have not given up. The 36th round of invalid-vote elimination is on. Up to this round, I am ahead by three thousand votes. Around nine thousand BJP votes have been declared invalid. That is why we fell behind. To those BJP voters who wrote '2' instead of '1' against my name, my request is that casting such a vote is not right for democracy. We will not concede until the entire count is over."

The Nagpur graduates' seat election carries special significance in Maharashtra politics. The area is considered an RSS stronghold, and a victory there for another party is seen as a major signal.

Graduate voters choose their representative on this seat. The contest here is therefore not limited to the popularity of political parties. It is also considered a test of their acceptability among the educated section, of local issues and of the personal image of the candidates. Wanjari's win is important for Congress in many ways.

In terms of figures, Wanjari received a total of 67,231 first- and second-preference votes. BJP's Kohle received 63,960 votes. Wanjari thus won by 3,271 votes. Independent candidate Nitesh Karale polled 25,908 votes.