Maharashtra: Congress claims victory in polls in Gadkari’s native village

The Congress claimed on Thursday that a panel supported by the party won the Gram Panchayat election in Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s native village in Maharashtra’s Nagpur district.

Congress-backed panels won at the senior BJP leader’s native village Dhapewada in Kalmeshwar tehsil as well as at Pachgaon in Umred tehsil, a village which he has adopted, the opposition party claimed.

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Gram panchayat elections are not fought on party symbols, though political parties support various panels.

Former minister and Nagpur district Congress chief Rajendra Mulak claimed that it was a setback to the BJP as it could not retain power at Pachgaon, a village adopted by Gadkari.

The BJP had earlier faced defeats in panchayat polls in the villages adopted by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and district guardian minister Chandrashekar Bawankule, he said.

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Congress MLA Sunil Kedar claimed that candidates supported by his party bagged 16 out of 17 gram panchayat seats at Dhapewada village, including the post of sarpanch.