Mahayuti allies didn't campaign? BJP investigates Nagpur MLC poll loss
What's the story
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra has said it will review its recent defeat in the Nagpur Graduates' constituency during the Legislative Council elections. "We tried hard and our party workers and leaders met the voters from the graduates' constituency. However, there seem to have been some shortcomings. We will introspect to understand the reasons for the defeat," senior BJP leader and state minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, taking personal responsibility for this loss.
Campaign assessment
Possible lack of coordination among Mahayuti partners
Bawankule also hinted at a possible lack of coordination among Mahayuti partners, which include the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
He said they would review if any of its Mahayuti partners failed to campaign for the alliance's candidates.
"Instead of blame game, we will review which partner....did not work in favor of the alliance candidate," he said, adding the party had given importance to the Nagpur Graduates' and Pune seats and had planned to win them.
Directive adherence
BJP will investigate if party directives were followed
The BJP will also investigate if directives from party leadership were followed at the grassroots level and if anyone had acted against the party line.
"We will see whether the clear instructions from the party leadership were followed at the ground level," he said.
He said action would be taken against those who violated these instructions.
"We will identify those who worked against the party line or the Mahayuti understanding and issue a reprimand," he said.
Non-compliance review
NDA won 16 seats
The Congress won the Nagpur Graduates' seat, while the NCP (SP) won the Pune and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates' seats.
The Nagpur win is significant because it is the home city of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the Lok Sabha constituency represented by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.
Overall, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 16 of the 28 Legislative Council seats it contested across four large states, while opposition parties stormed key strongholds, including Varanasi, Patna, Nagpur, Lucknow and Agra.