Nagpur, Dec 4
Abhijit Wanjari, who defeated BJP in the Nagpur graduate constituency seat poll, is the second member of his family who has become legislator. In the 2004 assembly election his father Govindrao Wanjari won the Nagpur South seat for Congress after 26 years. But before taking oath as MLA he died of heart attack on October 17 in Mumbai. Now, Abhijit fulfilled his father’s dream of reaching state legislature.
Political sojourn of Abhijit Wanjari, who won the seat considered to be the strong bastion of the BJP, was full of struggle. His father’s death after winning the assembly election was a great setback for his family. The celebration had suddenly turned into sorrow. But Wanjari increased his political activism by handling himself from this trauma. He contested the assembly elections twice. But it was not successful. Now in the third attempt, he has been successful in reaching the legislative council.
The 47-year-old Wanjari had also tried once to reach NMC but he faced defeat. Educated till LLB, Wanjari got political atmosphere from childhood. He held the responsibility of NSUI general secretary from 1988 to 2002. In the by-election held after the death of his father, Abhijit sought Congress ticket. The contested the election as an independent candidate after denied ticket. But could not succeed. However, he later returned home to the Congress. He contested the 2014 assembly elections from East Nagpur. BJP’s Krishna Khopde defeated him. For the last two years, he paid his full attention to graduate constituency seat.
Active in university
Abhijit Wanjari was very active in the academic field. He was a member of the law council and management council of Rashtra Sant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University. During this time, he played a role in opposition to the administration many times in the interest of the students.
Benefits of the previous elections
The framework of beating the BJP in the graduate constituency was being formed for a long time. In the elections of 2008 and 2014, Babanrao Taywade challenged Nitin Gadkari and Anil Sole respectively. He could not succeed. But he started mobilising the anti-BJP votes. Wanjari got full benefit in this election.