MVA’s Sudhakar Adabale won the Nagpur seat.
Mumbai:
In a major electoral setback for the BJP in one of its most important bastions, the candidate of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance defeated the party’s contender in the election to the Maharashtra Legislative Council seat in Nagpur on Thursday.
What makes the result a major setback for the BJP is that the constituency houses the headquarters of its ideological parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and is home to prominent leaders such as Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The MVA’s Sudhakar Adable won the Nagpur teachers seat by defeating the BJP-backed Nago Ganar in the elections held in June with the BJP after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was displaced by Shiv Sena dissident Eknath Shinde, officials said.
The biennial elections to the upper house of the state legislature were primarily between the ruling alliance of the BJP and Mr Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction and candidates backed by the MVA, which included Mr Thackeray’s Shiv Sena camp, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). ,
The six-year term of five council members – three from teachers and two from graduate constituencies – ends on February 7 and polling was held on Monday to fill the upcoming vacancies.
Teachers and graduates who fulfilled certain criteria and were enrolled as voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in these elections.
Konkan teachers constituency recorded the highest polling of 91.02 per cent, while the Nashik division graduate seat saw the lowest turnout of 49.28 per cent.
Teachers’ constituencies in Aurangabad, Nagpur and Konkan divisions recorded 86 per cent, 86.23 per cent and 91.02 per cent polling, respectively.
Apart from Nagpur, another close contest was in the Nashik division graduate seat, where the Congress saw rebellion in its ranks during the elections.
Three-time council member Sudhir Tambe was the official Congress candidate for the seat, but did not file his nomination papers.
As soon as he decided to opt out of the election, his son Satyajit Tambe decided to contest as an independent. Later Congress suspended both. Officials said that Satyajit Tambde is currently leading in the polls.