Nagpur: The fact that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has made a second round of visit to Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha constituency to address two more public rallies for his party candidate Hemant Patle on Friday indicated that the BJP is taking no chances in what is seen as a close fight between the BJP and NCP.
Voting will be held there on Monday which has been declared a holiday in both the districts. The byelection was forced because of resignation from Lok Sabha by Nana Patole who was elected in 2014 on a BJP ticket. But just after three years in the term, Patole, resigned from the BJP.
Patole is not contesting the election this time and he has returned to the Congress party. But he is campaigning actively for the NCP-Congress opposition combine candidate Madhukar Kukde. On Friday, NCP state president Jayant Patil reached the constituency for the campaign.
Fadnavis was to addressed two rallies, one at Arjuni Morgaon and another in Ganesh Nagar, both in Gondia district to ensure a BJP win in the by-poll. He has last Saturday addressed two poll meetings.
Fadnavis and Union minister Nitin Gadkari have taken up the challenge for the party. The BJP is desperate to win as the party’s strength in Lok Sabha has already slipped from 282 to 272 since it has been losing in most of the byelections in the last four years. In the last one held in UP for two seats, BJP lost both.
NCP veteran Praful Patel efficiently steered the campaign for first ten days all by himself while Patole carried it on in his stronghold around Sakoli. In the week before polling, senior NCP leaders Dhananjay Munde, Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil have joined Patel to give a big push to the Kudke’s poll prospects.
Though caste configurations may decide the outcome, Kukde enjoys the image of a down-to-earth honest leader. Patle of the BJP has advantage of better resources and networking of the ruling party.