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Congress' Nana Patole confident of beating Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur

Patole said that he is a "giant-killer" and confident of winning the seat. With Patole in the fray, poll pundits say that it won't be a cakewalk for Gadkari.

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The Congress has pitted former BJP leader Nana Patole against senior BJP leader cum Union minister Nitin Gadkari from the Nagpur Lok Sabha seat. Speaking exclusively to DNA, Patole said that he is a "giant-killer" and confident of winning the seat. With Patole in the fray, poll pundits say that it won't be a cakewalk for Gadkari.

Patole comes from the Kunbi community. He had won 4.5 lakh votes from the Nagpur constituency along with 2.5 lakh Muslim and 3.5 lakh Dalit votes in the previous election. Patole wants to ride on the Dalit, Muslim and Kunbi factor to defeat Gadkari. Patole terms the contest as Deekshabhoomi (place where Dr BR Ambedkar converted to Buddhism) versus Sanghbhoomi (RSS headquarter) in the orange city of Nagpur.

The BJP is highlighting the development work done by its leaders since 2014.

However, slamming the BJP's idea of development, Patole said that the so-called development is being done at the cost of tax-payers money. "Taxes in Nagpur have been increased arbitrarily. The government should not rob people. We are against this kind of development. I am confident of a comfortable win," Patole said.

The Congress leader said that in Vidarbha, the incumbent government failed on all fronts. "They had promised a separate Vidarbha but did nothing. Farm loan waiver is not done. Several farmers died due to spraying of pesticide. The government set up SIT but they gave clean chit to the culprits. There is huge water scarcity in Nagpur and Vidarbha," Patole said.

In 2014, Patole had defeated NCP leader Praful Patel in the Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha constituency.

Patole, who had switched sides from BJP to Congress said that he was told to keep silent when he had raised the issue of farmers' suicide with PM Modi. "That's when I left the BJP and joined the Congress. I do not care about post. I am more concerned about how to serve the common man," Patole said.

Patole said that the people from Nagpur are fed up of the BJP and will teach them a lesson this election. "We want to save the Constitution. Initially, the local media was hostile to me but now I'm receiving overwhelming response," Patole said.

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