Cong’s Jayshri wins Kolhapur by-poll

MUMBAI: Congress candidate Jayshri Jadhav won the by-poll held in the Kolhapur (North) assembly segment defeating rival Satyajit (Nana) Kadam of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by 19,307 votes, results declared on Saturday revealed.

Jadhav is the first woman to win from this seat since Independence.

The win is significant as it provides the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, comprising the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress, a much-needed boost in the arm at a time when the BJP and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have tried to make religious identity an issue during the ongoing festival season, including seeking a prohibition on the use of loudspeakers outside mosques, while calling for the recitation of the Hanuman Chalisa prayer outside temples.

Jadhav is the wife of Chandrakant Jadhav, who wrested this seat from Sena legislator Rajesh Kshirsagar in the 2019 assembly elections. Chandrakant Jadhav died in December 2021 due to Covid-19 related complications, thus necessitating the by-election, which took place on April 12, and saw over 61% voter turnout.

Kadam, BJP’s candidate, is the nephew of local strongman and former legislator Mahadeorao Mahadik. He said that the BJP had secured significant votes had risen despite the three MVA allies closing ranks.

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said it was a “victory of progressive thoughts.”

Minister of state for home and the district’s guardian minister Satej (Bunty) Patil, who had managed the Congress campaign, said that Kolhapur has given a message of equality through this mandate. “The BJP had tried to polarise this election, but the people of Kolhapur have foiled this move... The BJP must now make it clear if it believes in the Constitution of India or not. They tried to polarise the election and create a rift between communities,” he said, adding that the MVA partners countered this by raising issues of development.

“The BJP on its own got more than 77,000 votes and made it tough (for the MVA). The Congress candidate has not secured a runaway margin. So there is no

need for anyone to be jubilant,” said state BJP president Chandrakant Patil, who claimed that money power and caste politics were used against the BJP.

Patil, a legislator from Kothrud, Pune, hails from Kolhapur. Soon after the results were declared, memes aimed at Patil began to circulate on social media. They pertained to Patil’s statements last year, when he said that he would go to the Himalaya (renounce public life) if he lost an election from any constituency in Kolhapur.

Former chief minister and

leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis who campaigned in Kolhapur accused former ally, Shiv Sena of turning “pseudo secular”. Fadnavis, who sought to fight on the Hindutva plank, hoped to tap into the resentment of Shiv Sainiks who were upset after the MVA allies decided that Congress should contest on this seat. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray held a virtual rally on April 10. According to a senior BJP leader from Kolhapur, who did not wish to be named, the rally helped consolidate Sena votes for the Congress nominee.

PRAFUL GANGURDE/HT PHOTO Congress workers celebrate the victory.