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Updated April 17th, 2022 at 10:22 IST

Maharashtra: Fadnavis blames sympathy factor for BJP's defeat in Kolhapur North bypoll

Jayashri Jadhav, the wife of late Congress MLA Chandrakant Jadhav, won by a margin of 19,307 votes by bagging 97,332 votes.

Maharashtra: Fadnavis blames sympathy factor for BJP's defeat in Kolhapur North bypoll
Image: PTI | Image:self
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Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the sympathy factor apparently went in favour of MVA candidate Jayashri Jadhav who won the bypoll to the Kolhapur North Assembly constituency in Maharashtra by defeating her BJP rival Satyajit Kadam.

Jadhav, the wife of late Congress MLA Chandrakant Jadhav, won by a margin of 19,307 votes by bagging 97,332 votes.

Fadnavis said he was satisfied with the bypoll outcome which shows that a space has been created for BJP in the region even as three parties- Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress- contested together.

"I am confident that BJP will win this seat in 2024 elections," Fadnavis told media persons after a function where a book 'A Nation to Protect-leading India through the Covid crisis', authored by Priyam Gandhi-Mody, was launched by Union minister Piyush Goyal.

In a dig at former ally Shiv Sena, Fadnavis said that political compulsions seem to be stopping them from reciting Hanuman Chalisa.

Earlier, independent MLA Ravi Rana and his wife and Lok Sabha member Navneet Rana had demanded that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who heads Shiv Sena, recite Hanuman Chalisa at his residence.

Fadnavis said the BJP won more votes in Kolhapur North than the total votes polled by Sena and BJP when they had contested together in the 2019 polls.

"Three parties together secured the same number of votes (in Kolhapur North) that one party had won in the last elections. I feel that BJP is occupying that space," he said.

The former chief minister said that the sympathy factor went in favour of the MVA candidate and the bypoll result was more or less expected.

"In India, specifically in Maharashtra, in 19 out of 20 such elections, family members, especially wives of the deceased legislators have won," the opposition leader said.

Speaking on the Hanuman Chalisa issue, Fadnavis said, "We have been reciting Hanuman Chalisa for centuries. I feel the reason for their unhappiness is something different. There is some political reason which we need to find out," Fadnavis said without taking names.

Speaking at the panel discussion held after the book launch function, Fadnavis said Maharashtra is financially the most stable state in India, but the situation is such that medicines are not available in government hospitals.

"This is not because Maharashtra does not have resources to procure medicines but vested interests are involved in procuring medicines," he alleged.

Fadnavis said "high and wrong politics" happened in Maharashtra during the COVID-19 pandemic period over the vaccination.  

Goyal said that the imposition of lockdown to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus was the most appropriate decision that yielded results. 

"It was a well-thought and well-crafted strategy to prepare the nation to face this pandemic," Goyal said, adding that the nation was galvanized as one team and fought the virus in the last two years.        

Goyal also spoke about the decision to run Shramik special trains for ferrying migrant labourers to their native places and ramping up the production of liquid medical oxygen and its distribution.

He said the production of liquid medical oxygen was ramped up by 10 times from 900 metric tonnes to 9,000 metric tonnes in just three-four weeks last year, which is a "phenomenal achievement".

"Even the western world couldn't...We took decisions literally on our feet," Goyal said.

Noted pulmonologist Dr Jalil Parkar said that even today none of us know anything about COVID-19.

"Please take it as a pinch of salt. People might not like what I'm saying today, but none of us knows even today," he said.

Author Gandhi-Mody said a section of Indian journalists lost loyalty to their country very very quickly as compared to journalists of other countries. 

"Most scathing pieces in international publications were written by Indian journalists sitting in India who were not even employed by them (the publications) but they were working as consultants," she said. 

Gandhi-Mody's book highlights the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the pandemic crisis in the past two years and documents the Centre's leadership in this unprecedented time and how it tied the nation through the crisis.

The book chronicles India's handling of the pandemic years from a top-down approach.

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Published April 17th, 2022 at 10:22 IST

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