Congress leader and a minister in the state cabinet Satej Patil, who was in charge of the polls, said the people of Kolhapur have rejected the Hindutva card played by BJP.
Mumbai: In what seems to be a major blow to BJP’s “Mission Maharashtra”, Congress candidate under the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) banner emerged victorious in the Kolhapur North Assembly bypoll on Saturday after bagging over 97,000 votes.
The bypoll was necessitated after the death of Congress MLA Chandrakant Jadhav in December last year. His widow Jayshree Jadhav defeated Satyajit Kadam of the BJP who managed to get 78,025 votes.
Moments after her victory, Jadhav said, “We will work relentlessly for the development of Kolhapur and will always support the people of Kolhapur. Kolhapur is a Shahu Nagari. It belongs to Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj where there is no place for casteism… The people of Kolhapur have shown the BJP its place. They have given the BJP a befitting reply for their caste politics.”
Meanwhile, on state BJP president Chandrakant Patil’s earlier comment that he would leave for the Himalayas if the BJP candidate loses, workers of the Shiv Sena put up posters that read “Himalaya ki goad mein (on the laps of the Himalayas)” in order to taunt the saffron leader.
Congress leader and a minister in the state cabinet Satej Patil, who was in charge of the polls, said the people of Kolhapur have rejected the Hindutva card played by BJP. “The BJP virulently carried out the Hindutva campaign but the party fell flat on its face. There is a clear message from Kolhapur that any attempt to divide the people in the name of caste and religion will not succeed.”
Satej added, “Our unity has shown that the BJP is easily beatable. If we remain united like this elsewhere, there is no reason why the MVA should not remain in the top in every election.” He also alleged that the BJP had tried to distribute money to voters but were stopped.
