BJP suffers setback in nagar panchayat polls in Vidarbha

Nagpur: Even though the BJP emerged as the biggest party in terms of elected Nagar Panchayat (NP) members in Maharashtra, it is at no. 2 position in Vidarbha. In comparison to 214 Congress members who won the NP polls in the region, BJP’s tally is only 154, as per the figures provided by BJP Vidarbha secretary Sanjay Phanje.
In Vidarbha, the elections were conducted for various NPs in Nagpur, Amravati, Bhandara, Wardha, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts.
After the results, the saffron party is relegated to third place after Congress and NCP, in terms of capturing power in statewide NPs. Its former saffron partner Shiv Sena too fared badly in the state and Vidarbha as well, where it badly lacks much base.
In 2017 polls, BJP had swept most of the NP elections in the region, riding on the Modi wave, say its own activists.
On the other hand, this time Congress emerged as single biggest party, thanks to the efforts made by its senior office bearers, including its state president Nana Patole and state animal husbandry development minister Sunil Kedar, who has a stronghold in the rural areas.
BJP state secretary Sanjay Bhende said money and caste played a major role in turning the tide in favour of rivals. “These polls are mostly contested on local issues along with money and caste factors. This time, huge money flowed from the coffers of contestants, which is unusual in NP elections. I think, we lagged in both these factors, as we do not indulge in such politics,” he told TOI.
He added the polls in two phases due to OBC reservation imbroglio in the Supreme Court also affected their votes, as party workers and activists had to do the same work twice. “It cannot be said that since big leaders like Union minister Nitin Gadkari and leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis did not campaign for the elections, the BJP lost seats.”
Attributing the BJP’s fall to burning issues like ever rising inflation and the mess it created in OBC reservations, Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe told TOI that voters in entire country have now realized the jumlebaji of the saffron party.
“As we fought alone in the polls as per the call of our MPCC chief, we have not only managed to reach more seats than any other party, but also regained our lost bastion Vidarbha. We have single-handedly won 17 out of 30 NPs in Vidarbha and also in zilla parishad polls in Bhandara. Even our vote share has witnessed a jump. Importantly, we have managed to reach the grass roots at some places, which earlier was not possible due to coalition compulsions. Now, we have grass roots leaders here,” he said.