No, Congress did not draw 'big zero' or 'blank' in MLC elections as the BJP claimed

Vibha Sharma

New Delhi, Oct 29 (UNI) Though the BJP on Wednesday taunted the Congress for "drawing a blank" in the MLC polls, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself chipping in with a post on X, the grand old party eventually had the last laugh by winning the Nagpur seat in the elections across four states.

Congress's sitting MLC Abhijeet Wanjari defeated the BJP's Sudhakar Kohale to retain the Nagpur Division Graduates' constituency seat in a nail-biting contest that saw the lead change hands multiple times during more than 40 hours of counting. Though just one in number, the seat in Nagpur, the bastion of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and union Minister Nitin Gadkari, and the headquarters of the RSS, provided sufficient ammunition to the Congress to target the BJP.

Maharashtra's results have given the INDIA bloc a good boost, with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) winning three of the five MLC seats. The Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) won two seats, while the Congress secured the Nagpur seat. The ruling Mahayuti alliance won the remaining two seats. This is the second time the Congress has defeated the BJP on its home turf of Nagpur, a seat it guarded for long before losing it to the Congress in 2020. While PM Modi's post on X about the Congress stands, it seems Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had to delete the "boastful" post, according to the Congress. Not just Fadnavis, but BJP leaders at both the state and Centre had taunted the Congress on Wednesday for "drawing a blank" in the MLC polls.

Prime Minister Modi wrote: "MLC elections in 28 seats across 4 big states-Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Elections held using ballot papers. Guess how many seats Congress won?" ending the post with an emoji with a monocle. BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari's "big zero" post stated: "28 MLC elections happened on Ballot Paper, Yet Congress under Rahul Gandhi won ZERO seats! EVM: People India reject Rahul Gandhi's Anarchic politics. Ballot paper: People of India reject Rahul Gandhi's Anarchic politics. Congress PR has no takers except Congress ecosystem!" Overall, the Maharashtra results have given the opposition MVA reasons to cheer and the BJP reasons to introspect.

The NCP (SP) has called for a return to ballot papers for holding elections. The results have caused embarrassment for the ruling Mahayuti alliance. The Samajwadi Party also has a lot to cheer about, having made good gains in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, while Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party opened its account in Bihar's Upper House.

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