Nitin Gadkari

BJP’s union minister Nitin Gadkari is currently leading by 42,149 votes on Nagpur parliamentary constituency.

The BJP was relying on development brought in by Union Minister and sitting MP Nitin Gadkari in Maharashtra’s high-profile Nagpur Lok Sabha constituency while the Congress was banking on the contacts and relations of its candidate Vikas Thakre with different sections of the society. 

Union Minister Gadkari, who was elected in the 2014 and 2019 elections defeating the Congress nominees Vilas Muttemwar and Nana Patole respectively, was pitted against Congress nominee Vikas Thakre.

Besides the slew of development initiatives taken by him during his two terms as a Union Minister, the Nagpur MP was also banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guarantee. On the other hand, Vikas Thakre, who is a sitting MLA, was riding on Congress’ five guarantees and approached the voters with an argument that mere bridges, and metros “do not mean development”.

For Union Minister Gadkari, the organisational strength, and the active participation of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the activists of RSS in the campaign apart from his pro-development image with “friendship” cutting across party lines and various sections of the society were a few positives which came handy for his outreach with voters.

Congress nominee Vikas Thakre was counting on his political rise from a corporator to a legislator and his image as a leader who fights for the public cause. Thakre cashed on his contacts and relations in every section of society and also the teams which were developed at every ward level. However, he had to struggle to bring together various factions in the Congress urging the leaders to keep aside their egos for the defeat of the BJP.

Interestingly, Union Minister Gadkari hoped to win with a higher margin on the development plank while Vikas Thakre was confident to muster support from the voters affected by inflation, unemployment, and farmers’ distress.

(With inputs from syndicated feed)