Maharashtra Assembly bypolls | Congress’ Ravindra Dhangekar defeats BJP’s Hemant Rasane in Kasaba Peth

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| Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI

In a major upset for the ruling BJP, the Congress’ Ravindra Dhangekar — the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate for the Kasba Peth Assembly segment — registered a thumping victory over the BJP’s Hemant Rasane on Thursday.

Mr. Dhangekar, a former five-time corporator, pulled off a thumping win in the BJP’s citadel of Kasba Peth, defeating Mr. Rasane by over 11,000 votes.

Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar said Mr. Dhangekar’s victory sent out a message “if the three parties fight together and the seat sharing is done properly, then nothing can stop the MVA from gaining success in future elections in Maharashtra”.

“All three MVA parties (NCP, Congress and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction) worked with a united spirit. Despite ruling BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena making use of every device to defeat Ravindra Dhangekar, he emerged triumphant and MVA won in a seat that had been the BJP’s stronghold for the last 28 years,” the NCP leader said.

“A message has gone out in Maharashtra that if the three parties fight together and the seat sharing is done properly, then nothing can stop MVA from gaining success in future elections in Maharashtra.. Shiv Sainiks have shown their anger at the manner in which Uddhav Thackeray was toppled from the CM’s post by voting against Shinde-Fadnavis government,” Mr. Pawar added.

A former leader of Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Mr. Dhangekar had joined the Congress in 2017.

The bypoll to the Kasba Peth Assembly constituency was necessitated owing to the death of sitting BJP MLA Mukta Tilak — a scion of Lokmanya Tilak’s family. The bye-election, held on February 26, saw a lukewarm voter turnout despite a high-decibel campaign run by both the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena (led by Eknath Shinde) and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).