Congress Stuns BJP on RSS And Fadnavis Home Turf as MVA Dominates Maharashtra MLC Polls

In what has emerged as a major political embarrassment for the ruling establishment, the Congress has wrestled the Nagpur Graduate constituency seat from the BJP in the high-stakes Maharashtra Legislative Council elections. The defeat lands squarely on the home turf of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Congress candidate Abhijeet Wanjari pulled off a thrilling victory against BJP nominee Sudhakar Kohale following a nail-biting vote count that stretched into the final rounds. The outcome deals a sharp psychological blow to the ruling Mahayuti alliance, proving that even citadel strongholds are vulnerable to shifting voter sentiments.

How the Battle for Nagpur Unfolded

The electoral race in Nagpur went down to the wire, with suspense lingering until the third-preference stage of counting. Although Wanjari led slightly in the first-preference count, Kohale briefly surged ahead in the second-preference round.

With neither candidate meeting the mandatory winning quota, the tabulation shifted to evaluating second-preference ballots from independent and rebel contenders, notably Nilesh Karande. Despite Karande eating into anti-BJP votes earlier in the cycle, Wanjari successfully garnered a critical share of second-preference transfers from those ballots, ultimately crossing the finish line with a 2,500-vote margin.

Fadnavis Forced to Delete Tweet After Premature Celebration

The political drama intensified off the ballot papers when Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis jumped the gun. Believing the Mahayuti alliance was sweeping the broader electoral contest, Fadnavis took to social media to celebrate, taunting the opposition and claiming the Congress had secured a "big fatty zero" in the MLC polls.

Within an hour of the post, as counting trends in Nagpur reversed and Wanjari's victory solidified, Fadnavis was forced to quietly delete his tweet, triggering intense political fodder for opposition parties across the state.

Broad Fallout Across Maharashtra Legislative Council Seats

The biennial elections for the five Legislative Council seats—spanning Pune Graduate, Pune Teachers, Nagpur Graduate, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduate, and Amravati Teachers constituencies—saw a total of 182 candidates in the fray.

When the dust settled, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) walked away with three of the five seats, while the ruling Mahayuti alliance managed two.

• Pune Graduate: NCP (SP) candidate Harshada Deshmukh defeated BJP's Smita Jadhav in a fiercely contested face-off.
• Pune Teachers: BJP candidate Kaustubh Gawade secured victory over independent nominee Sachin Sanap, who enjoyed Shiv Sena backing.
• Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduate: NCP (SP) candidate Dr Pratap Sinh Patil triumphed over sitting NCP MLC Satish Chavan and Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Dilip Ghughe.
• Amravati: Shiv Sena candidate Kiran Sardesai defeated Congress's Aditi Pohare and Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Duttraya Lahane.

The results underscore a re-energised opposition footprint across Maharashtra's legislative landscape, setting a tense tone for upcoming political alignments in the state.