Nagpur: As the counting of ballots for the Nagpur South West Seat concluded, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who represents the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was declared winner, receiving over 1.2 votes, 38,000 more than his close opponent Prafulla Vinodrao Gudadhe of Congress. Vinay Bhange of Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi finished third, while Surendra Shravan Dongre of Bahujan Samaj Party came a distant fourth.
Fadnavis and the Nagpur-South West constituency have a special connection. The former Maharashtra Chief Minister has been elected from this constituency five times and was seeking re-election for the sixth time.
Fadnavis contested on a BJP ticket this time and has the support of the saffron party's top brass and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, who is a Lok Sabha member from Nagpur. On the other hand, Congress had fielded Prafulla to take on Fadnavis.
There were 12 contestants in the fray, but the key battle was between the BJP and the Congress. The road for Fadnavis appeared difficult as Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil had repeatedly targeted Fadnavis and appealed to the Marathas to vote against him. Marathas are a key community in Maharashtra, and they are seeking reservations.
The Maratha reservation has become a key poll issue. Fadnavis also had the support of the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Congress has the support of the NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT).
Amid the clean sweep by the Mahayuti in Maharashtra, Fadnavis is the top choice for the post of chief minister.
