Nagpur graduates' seat: BJP's Kohale expresses respect for rebel Sole, says he is confident of winning

Sudhakar Kohale, the BJP's official candidate for the Nagpur division graduates' constituency, has expressed confidence of winning. Speaking in Nagpur, he clarified his stand on the rebellion and discontent within the party.

Speaking about Anil Sole, Kohale said Sole is his mentor, that he holds him in respect and that he is a senior leader. "I am a small worker, so it is not proper to comment further on this," he said. Kohale said he does not know who backed Sole.

However, Kohale said, "I am the Mahayuti candidate and the Mahayuti has strength in the state." He said he too has worked hard, so there will be no difficulty. He said he knows the vote arithmetic and that graduate voters are responding strongly.

According to Kohale, the BJP lost this seat in 2020. Party workers felt the pain of the defeat after 57 years. He said he does not know what happened when the candidate was selected. However, he said, since 2025 he has been registering graduate voters continuously and staying in touch with them.

Speaking about Girish Vyas, Kohale said Vyas is the one who pulled him out when he was disheartened. He said Vyas is his political mentor, but he does not know why Vyas did this.

Kohale said he visited Anil Sole's home and met his wife. Sole conveyed his good wishes over the phone. Kohale said he also has the good wishes of Abhijit Wanjari. People tell him that Wanjari has not held any meetings in the past six years, so, Kohale said, it is not right to take a voter for granted.

Meanwhile, on the last day for withdrawing nominations, BJP rebel candidate Anil Sole did not withdraw his nomination. BJP leader Parinay Fuke reacted to this. Fuke said Sole could not withdraw his form because he reached the office late, after the deadline for withdrawal.

According to Fuke, he had spoken to Sole at 2 pm, before the withdrawal deadline, and Sole had assured him that he would withdraw. Sole had also spoken to the Chief Minister and Nitin Gadkari. Fuke claimed Sole had even left for the office to withdraw, but could not reach in time because of a technical difficulty.

Fuke expressed confidence that, even though the form was not withdrawn, Anil Sole would announce his support for the BJP's official candidate Sudhakar Kohale in the next two to four days and help the party win.

The notification for the Legislative Council election was issued on September 29, 2026. The last date for filing nominations was October 6, 2026, scrutiny of nominations took place on October 7, 2026, and the last date for withdrawal was October 9, 2026. Voting will be held on October 23, 2026, from 8 am to 4 pm, while counting and results are on October 27, 2026.