In a clear reflection of the changing political mood in Maharashtra, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – comprising the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena — has outsmarted the ruling Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, by winning three out of five seats in the biennial MLC elections to the Teachers and Graduates’ constituencies.

The BJP suffered a major jolt in the RSS headquartered city of Nagpur, as the Congress candidate Sudhakar Adbale trounced sitting two-time MLC Nago Ganar, an Independent nominee supported by the BJP in the elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Council from the Nagpur Division Teachers’ constituency.

The electoral defeat in the MLC poll from Nagpur Division Teachers’ constituency is being seen as a personal setback for Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, both of whom hail from the orange city of Nagpur.

The Congress’ victory in the Nagpur Division Teachers’ constituency is of considerable political significance, as it comes two years after its candidate Abhijit Wanjari romped home in the Nagpur Division Graduates’ constituency, by defeating the BJP’’s Sandeep Joshi by a comfortable margin  of 18,910 votes.

The BJP’s debacle in the December 2020 election to the Nagpur Division Graduates’ constituency had come in the backdrop of the fact that this seat was represented in the past by senior party minister and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s father Gangadharrao Fadnavis in the past.  Gadkari, it may be recalled, had won this seat for four terms since 1989 before he contested successfully the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Nagpur.

Apart from the Nagpur Division Teachers’ seat, the Opposition MVA scored comfortable victories over the BJP in the Amravati Division Graduates’ and  Aurangabad Teachers’ constituencies.

Dhiraj Lingade of the Congress snatched away the Amravati seat from the BJP by defeating its candidate Dr Ranjit Patil, a two-time sitting MLC and a former minister in the erstwhile BJP-Shiv Sena government. Dr Patil is a leading orthopaedic surgeon.