NEW DELHI/NAGPUR – The Maharashtra Congress on Thursday took a sharp dig at Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis after the party held on to the Nagpur Graduates’ constituency in the Legislative Council elections. The result came after more than 40 hours of counting and forced Fadnavis to delete a tweet he had posted a day earlier, in which he mocked the Congress for failing to win any seat.
The Result
Congress candidate and sitting MLC Abhijeet Wanjari defeated BJP’s Sudhakar Kohale by 3,271 votes. Wanjari secured 67,231 votes, while Kohale got 63,960.
The count was long and tight. Kohale led after the second round, but neither candidate reached the required quota through first-preference votes. Wanjari finally overtook his rival during the elimination rounds, when preferential votes were transferred.
The loss is a setback for the BJP in Nagpur, which is the hometown of both Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Both leaders had campaigned extensively for Kohale. Gadkari himself represented this constituency in the Legislative Council for 24 years, from 1990 to 2014.
The Deleted Tweet
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X, asking how many seats the Congress had won in the MLC elections across 28 seats in four states: Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. He pointed out that these polls were held using ballot papers, not electronic voting machines (EVMs). Fadnavis posted a similar tweet in response.
After the final result, the Maharashtra Congress hit back on X. It said Fadnavis had fired “a big arrow” before the full results were out, but it “turned back and pierced straight into his chest.” The party added that he was forced to delete the post. It also warned that in 2029, the people of Maharashtra would deliver a “political bombshell,” calling the current result “just the trailer.”
Congress Challenges Modi on EVMs
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera also responded to Modi. He challenged the Prime Minister to hold future Lok Sabha and assembly elections using ballot papers. “If Narendra Modi is so confident that EVMs have no bearing on election results,” Khera wrote, he should prove it through action, not words.
Khera also demanded that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls be suspended. He called for the restoration of what he alleged were 13.3 crore illegally deleted voters and for action against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Opposition Joins In
NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar also criticised Fadnavis. He pointed out that the BJP lost in Nagpur, where the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters is located, even though Fadnavis had personally gone door-to-door to persuade rebels to withdraw. Pawar said the deleted tweet showed the “immense ego of power” and suggested it may have been posted too early. He congratulated Wanjari and thanked the graduates who voted for him.
MVA Takes Three of Five Seats
With Wanjari’s win, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) won three of the five Maharashtra Legislative Council seats contested on October 23. The BJP-led Mahayuti won the other two.
- NCP (SP): Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav won the Pune Graduates’ seat, and Pratapsinh Patil won the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates’ seat.
- Shiv Sena: Kiran Sarnaik won the Amravati Teachers’ seat.
- BJP: Kaustubh Gawade won the Pune Teachers’ seat.
The Bigger Debate
The results have set off a fresh political fight between the BJP and the opposition over election performance and the use of EVMs. Modi used the ballot-paper polls to question the Congress’s showing. The Congress, meanwhile, has used the same results to renew its demand that ballot papers be used in future elections.
