Harshada Wanjale, the wife of deceased Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MLA Ramesh Wanjale, had contested the by-polls as the NCP-Congress candidate.
The surprise victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena-Republican Party of India (RPI) alliance candidate, Bhimrao Tapkir, in the Khadakwasla by-election has sent shock waves in the ruling Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)-Congress alliance, with deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar calling for serious soul-searching within the party.
Harshada Wanjale, the wife of deceased Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) MLA Ramesh Wanjale, had contested the by-polls as the NCP-Congress candidate. Tapkir defeated Harshada in a closely-fought election by more than 3,000 votes.
Harshada’s defeat was a personal blow for Pawar, who had spearheaded the campaign and addressed multiple rallies.
Taking responsibility for the defeat on himself, Pawar told DNA, “The NCP will embark on a detailed analysis of the results to understand where we went wrong.”
Pawar counted the poor turnout as a major cause for the loss. “The rural votes went in our favour, but the low urban turnout did us in,” he said.
BJP city MLA, Girish Bapat, said the victory was people’s verdict against the misrule and rein of corruption unleashed by the ruling alliance. “This result is a clear message to Pawar that people are fed up with this arrogance. Also, this might be for the first time that the widow of a deceased MLA failed to capitalise on the sympathy factor,” he said.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe congratulated the people for voting fearlessly. “The whole government and police machinery was used to ensure that Wanjale wins the polls, but the people made sure that the right candidate won. The ruling alliance should note that money and muscle power will not give electoral
victory,” she said.
Bapat and Gorhe claimed that the by-poll’s victory would act as a precursor to further electoral gains for the saffron alliance in the upcoming civic elections.
Union agriculture minister and NCP chief, Sharad Pawar, who was in Pune for a book release function, refused to comment on the NCP’s defeat.
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