Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole claimed many Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leaders helped the MVA in Vidarbha to secure victory in the Legislative Council polls and that the saffron party’s house will crumble.
In a setback to the ruling Eknath Shinde-BJP alliance, the Maha Vikas Aghadi won three Nagpur, Aurangabad and Amravati of the five seats which were up for grabs in biennial elections from teachers and graduates segments. The BJP and independent candidate Satyajit Tambe won from the Konkan and Nashik graduates constituencies respectively.
Patole said he still maintains that the Tambe father-son betrayed the party. While Sudhir Tambe, the party’s official candidate, had opted out on the last day of filing nomination, his son Satyajit filed his papers as an independent. The then Congress suspended both.
Patole also said the polls have shown the BJP who the king is. He also credited Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra foot march, which passed through Vidarbha, for creating enthusiasm among people for the party.
After MVA-backed candidate Sudhakar Adbale trumped BJP-supported Nagorao Ganar, Patole had on Thursday claimed that the victory in the bastion of BJP’s parent organisation is a jolt to the saffron party, in a reference to the Nagpur-headquartered Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Vidarbha has remained with the Congress. We were hit by wrong coordination and planning. This time everyone worked together and fought this war, he said.