BJP-led Mahayuti stares at huge setback in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha
Union minister Nitin Gadkari is leading by around 48,650 votes in the Nagpur Lok Sabha constituency against his Congress rival, Vikas Thakre
NAGPUR: The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti coalition in Maharashtra is staring at a huge setback in Vidarbha, a region that was once its stronghold, with the coalition partners winning just 3 of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the region. The BJP-led NDA won all 10 seats in 2014 and nine of them in 2019.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari is leading by around 48,650 votes in the Nagpur Lok Sabha constituency against his Congress rival, Vikas Thakre. In Bhandara-Gondia, sitting MP Sunil Mendhe is leading by around 5,000 votes in the third round of vote counting against Congress candidate Dr Prashant Padole.
In Buldhana, the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) candidate is leading in the Lok Sabha constituency against the SS (UBT) rival by around 8,000 votes. The Amravati Lok Sabha constituency witnessed a close contest between BJP nominee Navneet Rana and Congress candidate Balwant Wankhede, with both candidates leading in various rounds of counting.
Across the remaining constituencies, Maha Vikas Aghadi candidates are leading. For example, Maharashtra minister and senior BJP leader Sudhir Munganttiwar is trailing behind his Congress rival Pratibha Dhanorkar from the first round of counting. In Gadchiroli, the Congress nominee, Namdeo Kirsan is significantly ahead of the BJP rival and sitting MP, Ashok Nete.
In other constituencies in the region, candidates from the Maha-Vikas-Aghadi are leading, with notable margins. The Mahayuti is likely to face a potentially significant defeat in Ramtek, where the Congress candidate, Shyamrao Barve is leading, while the Sena (Shinde) faction nominee, Raju Barve lags behind in most rounds.
In Wardha, the incumbent MP, Ramdas Tadas is trailing behind the NCP (Sharad Pawar) candidate, Amar Kale by considerable margins. Meanwhile, in Akola, the Congress nominee Dr Abhay Patil seems to be emerging victorious against the BJP rival, Anup Dhotre in each round of counting. The leader of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar reduced as non-significant in the elections from the constituency.
