MLC elections: Congress opens account, wins RSS bastion in Nagpur

Nagpur: The Congress has registered a second consecutive victory in the Nagpur Division Graduates' constituency of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a region widely regarded as a stronghold of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Congress candidate Abhijit Govindrao Wanjarri defeated his BJP rival, Sudhakar Kohle, by a margin of 3,271 votes after a prolonged counting process.

The result marks a significant electoral win for the Congress in Nagpur, where the BJP and the RSS have a considerable political presence.

Speaking to reporters after his victory, Wanjarri said the BJP had made an extensive effort to win the election, but failed to produce results.

"The way the BJP put its all into these elections; big leaders of the BJP were in Nagpur. However, voters were with us," Wanjarri said, expressing confidence in the support he received from voters.

The outcome assumes particular significance as Nagpur is the home city of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and also falls within the Lok Sabha constituency represented by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Nagpur is also the headquarters of the RSS, an organisation with a strong ideological and organisational presence in the region.

With this win, the Congress opened its account in the by-elections held for 28 Legislative Council seats across four states -- Karnataka, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

He contested the election as the Congress candidate with the backing of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), an alliance comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).

Congress leader Harsh Vardhan Sapkal took to X and said that with this win, "The balloon of illusion has burst; hatred has been defeated."

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