MVA triumphs over BJP in Kolhapur North bye-elections

The bye-elections in this important Western Maharashtra seat has been necessitated because of the death of Congress MLA Chandrakant Jadhav

Amid fierce attacks from the BJP, the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi put up a united front with the Congress defeating the national saffron party in Kolhapur North bye-elections in Maharashtra.

Congress candidate Jayshree Jadhav defeated Satyajit Kadam by a margin of over 18,000 votes in the elections that witnessed intense fortnight-long campaign involving war-of-words between the two sides.

Winning the seat has come as a boost to the MVA, the Uddhav Thackeray-led and the Sharad Pawar-crafted anti BJP-coalition.

Also Read: TMC, Congress take on BJP in West Bengal, Bihar bypolls

The bye-elections in this important Western Maharashtra seat has been necessitated owing to the death of Congress MLA Chandrakant Jadhav, who passed away on 2 December, 2021, because of Covid-19 related complications.

The Congress had fielded Jayshree Jadhav, the wife of Chandrakant Jadhav against Kadam, who is the nephew of former legislator and veteran politician Mahadeorao Mahadik.

It may be recalled, during the 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls, Chandrakant Jadhav had defeated two-time Shiv Sena legislator Rajesh Kshirsagar, who is currently the executive chairman of Maharashtra State Planning Board.

State BJP president Chandrakant Patil, who hails from Kolhapur, had been camping in Kolhapur for over two weeks while the Congress charge was undertaken by minister of state for home and information technology Satej Patil, who is also the guardian minister of the district.

“We will surely analyse what went wrong,” said Chandrakant Patil, however, pointing out that it was three parties taking on one.

“The Kolhapur formula needs to be taken across the country. Polarisation did not work here, money did not work here. We did micro planning and had a carefully drafted strategy,” said Satej Patil.

Watch the latest DH Videos here: