Gadchiroli LS seat: Nete evoked Modi whom Usendi flayed

Gadchiroli: The night before counting begins, the rival camps of Congress candidate Dr Namdeo Usendi and BJP MP Ashok Nete in Gadchiroli were abuzz with activity with party workers, counting agents and supporters thronging their offices and carrying out an incessant chatter on the outcome.
Usendi surfed channels for any poll related news as he answered the relentlessly ringing phone and issued instructions to party workers. With training of counting agents on his mind, arrangements of their identity cards and meetings with workers in late evening, Usendi looked a seasoned politicians and not one who had jumped into the fray after a prolonged stint as Gadchiroli district hospital’s first doctor from Madia community.
Usendi said he visited after the elections all the areas which he could not before the polling. “I went to connect with grassroots workers, collecting reviews about the polling patterns and equations, analyzing them and also went about thanking the ones who had really toiled hard, “ said Usendi. He stated a demand from his side has been communicated to the district election officer about installing jammers on the day of counting so as to guard against any possibilities of hacking. “I held a meeting all Zilla Parishad circle level workers and discussed various issues with them,” he said.
Usendi claimed chances of his victory were higher as BJP had sought vote on the image of Prime minister Narendra Modi but the local people already know their man in Lok Sabha (MP Nete) was not able to voice needs of this constituency and get work done.
Usendi sounded confident of a win by at least 40,000-50,000 margin. “The farmers were unhappy with ruling BJP as it had failed to help them with the promised loan waiver, the youths were disappointed as the job creation too did not take place as projected,” he said.
Usendi said that his schedule from afternoon to evening would be full of meetings with party workers and counting agents. He shall meet the collector earlier in the day. “I will get up at 4 am for offering prayer and head for the counting venue at 6 am,” he said.
The sitting BJP MP Nete also sounded upbeat about his prospects. He said he will get elected by a margin of at least one lakh votes. “People voted for development. The BJP governments at the Centre and the state had a strong focus on development,” he said. “People realized that only Modi can save our country and bring development which did not happen for several decades under past governments,” he said.
Nete said his office had been functioning 14 hours a day from very next day of polling. “After a short holiday with family, I started fighting water shortage,” said Nete. He too said they had also done post-election analysis of polling patterns, gains and deficits in different segments.
Nete also said meetings with party workers, polling agents and other supporters would be among the priorities for Thursday evening. “I have to ensure the arrangements of counting agents and the entire process remains fool-proof and also fine tune our strategy,” he said. He said his day will start with a ‘puja’ before he heads to the counting venue.