Maharashtra: Blow to BJP as Congress sweeps Panchayat Samiti polls in Nagpur
Nagpur, Oct 16: In a setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress dominated the results of elections to the posts of Panchayat Samiti chairpersons and deputy chairpersons in Nagpur district of Maharashtra.
As per the official information, the BJP could not win even a single post of chairperson and managed to secure only three seats of deputy chairperson in the elections, results of which were declared on Saturday - on the same day of voting.
Nagpur district is the home turf of the BJP's current chief of Maharashtra unit Chandrashekhar Bawankule, state Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister Nitin Gadkari. Nagpur also houses the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological fountainhead of the BJP that is currently in power in the state and at the Centre.
The Congress won nine out of 13 posts of chairperson and eight out of 13 posts of deputy chairperson in the district. The Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP) secured three posts of chairperson, while the Shiv Sena managed to win one such post, the district officials said.
The Congress won the chairperson's post in Saoner, Kalmeshwar, Parseoni, Mouda, Kamptee, Umred, Bhivapur, Kuhi and Nagpur Rural.
The NCP won the post in Katol, Narkhed and Hingna, and the Shiv Sena won the Ramtek chairperson's post, they said.
The Ramtek seat was bagged the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde named 'Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena', sources said.
Talking to PTI, former minister and Congress rural unit chief Rajendra Mulak said, "The Panchayat Samiti results have demoralised the
BJP cadre, as the party faced a defeat on the home ground of the RSS and senior leaders Nitin Gadkari, Devendra Fadnavis and Chandrashekar Bawankule."
"Winning and losing keeps happening, but the way they have lost shows that the BJP cadre has no grip in the district," the Congress leader said.
Elections to the posts of sarpanch and members of gram panchayats were held on Sunday and results will be declared on Monday.
Similarly, polling and counting for the posts of president and vice-president Zilla Parishads will be held on Monday, officials said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
TN Assembly elections: Eight-month pregnant homemaker wins Thiru Vi Ka Nagar seat for TVK
Chennai (PTI): Before giving birth, she had already delivered a mandate—a symbol of hope for Thiru Vi Ka Nagar.
Echoing Delhi’s 2013 “common citizen” political churn associated with the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), an eight-month-pregnant homemaker, M R Pallavi, has been elected as an MLA from Chennai’s Thiru Vi Ka Nagar constituency, emerging as one of the notable first-time faces of the Vijay-led TVK in the recently held Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
In the narrow lanes of Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, a steady stream of media personnel has been making their way to Pallavi’s residence—a scene reminiscent of the result day in Delhi when journalists thronged the modest home of Rakhi Birla, who had won from Mangolpuri on an AAP ticket.
Pallavi, 36, a homemaker educated up to class XII, defeated the DMK candidate K S Ravichandran by a margin of 22,333 votes in the reserved Thiru Vi Ka Nagar Assembly constituency.
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam emerged as the single largest party by winning 108 seats, while DMK and AIADMK got 59 and 47, respectively.
Pallavi’s victory has drawn attention due to her personal circumstances. She campaigned extensively while eight months pregnant, going door-to-door to reach voters.
According to local accounts, she even fainted once during the campaign but continued her outreach.
She has not spoken to the media following her victory, as doctors have advised her to rest. Her husband, Rajesh, briefly recounted her campaign efforts.
A self-professed admirer of actor-turned-politician Vijay, Pallavi joined TVK soon after its formation and is now among its first-time legislators.
Doctors have advised her to be hospitalised around May 20, as she is expecting her second child. Ahead of that, voters in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar have entrusted her with representing them in the state Assembly.
Political observers say the rise of candidates like Pallavi signals a possible shift in Tamil Nadu’s political landscape, with voters backing a new party and candidates from non-traditional backgrounds.
