Nagpur: Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday won from the Nagpur Lok Sabha constituency for the third time in a row, defeating his nearest Congress rival by a margin of 1,37, 603 votes.
The senior BJP leader polled 6,55,027 votes against 5,17,424 votes received by Congress' Vikas Thakre in 20 rounds of counting. BSP candidate Yogesh Lanjewar stood third with 19,242 votes, while 5,474 votes went to NOTA. Gadkari's winning margin went down by 78,397 in this election.
In 2019, he had defeated Congress' Nana Patole by 2,16,000 votes. The BJP leader first contested from the constituency in 2014 when he had won by 2,84,828 votes. Nagpur constituency went to polls in the first phase on April 19.
Talking to the media after the victory, Gadkari thanked the people of Nagpur, party workers and friends. He will work to fulfill his dream of making Nagpur the most beautiful, clean and pollution-free city in the country, he said.
He will work for industrialisation of Nagpur and the larger Vidarbha region on a priority basis and create employment for the youth, the BJP leader said. Taking to X, Gadkari also congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president J P Nadda and party workers, saying the people of India have given the NDA led by Modi a mandate to form the government for the third time.
In the last ten years, the country saw unprecedented development in all sectors, and "we will be continuously working to fulfill PM Modi's dream of Atma-nirbhar and Viksit Bharat," he said.
Earlier, as it became clear that Gadkari's lead was unassailable, he was seen celebrating the moment with his wife and grandchildren. A video shared by his office showed Gadkari's granddaughter saying "Aaba Jinkle" (Grandfather has won) as the family posed for the media.
The high-profile Nagpur constituency, which houses the RSS headquarters, has 22,18,259 voters – 11,10, 840 male, 11,07,197 female and 222 transgender persons.
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