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

• Abhijit Govindrao Wanjarri defeated BJP’s Sudhakar Kohle by 3,271 votes in the Maharashtra Legislative Council’s Nagpur Graduates’ constituency

• The victory marks Congress’s second consecutive win in Nagpur, the home city of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the RSS headquarters

• Backed by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Wanjarri’s win opened Congress’s account in Legislative Council by-elections across four states

The Congress has secured a second consecutive victory in the Nagpur Division Graduates’ constituency of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a region considered a stronghold of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

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

The victory marks a notable electoral success for the Congress in Nagpur, which has a significant political presence of both the BJP and the RSS.

Speaking to reporters after his win, Wanjarri said the BJP had deployed considerable resources and senior leaders to secure the seat but failed to win over voters.

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

The result carries added political significance as Nagpur is the home city of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and falls within the Lok Sabha constituency represented by Union minister Nitin Gadkari. The city is also the headquarters of the RSS, which has a strong organisational and ideological presence in the region.

Wanjarri contested the election as the Congress nominee 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).

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

Congress leader Harshwardhan Sapkal welcomed the outcome in a post on X, saying, “The balloon of illusion has burst; hatred has been defeated.”

The result gives the Congress another victory in the Nagpur Graduates’ constituency and comes as a setback for the BJP in a region closely associated with its political and ideological base.

With IANS inputs