People are talking a lot about the defeat that Bharatiya Janata Party witnessed in recently held Graduates’ Constituency polls which was a stronghold of the party. Most feel there is a wave of despondency in the party after the defeat. They are also saying, the confidence of Opposition parties like Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena is very high. But BJP’s city unit President Pravin Datke has refuted all these debates, “BJP is never a party of any leader, it is a cadre-based party. It always relies on its discipline, it works in a decentralised manner. We have seen several defeats. In fact, BJP has emerged after it has digested several defeats so nobody should think that party’s downfall has begun after the loss.

 

We are very much in the run. In fact we will be front-runner in 2022 elections to Nagpur Municipal Corporation.” There was a fearful atmosphere in Opposition parties till Adv Abhijit Wanjari of Congress broke the jinx by clinching thumping win in Graduates’ Constituency polls. It was Wanjari himself who had refused to accept ticket of Nagpur East during 2019 State Assembly elections because of lack of confidence that he would win against Krishna Khopde. But when he won Graduates’ Constituency polls, the confidence in Opposition parties got a boost. Of course, according to political pundits, the equations of Graduates’ Constituency polls are altogether different than those of other regular elections. The Opposition parties though can pretend they are feeling confident but they can’t bank on Graduates’ Constituency victory.

 

“We don’t say that we haven’t taken the Graduates’ Constituency election defeat to our hearts. It pained us. But we are not brooding over. In fact, we will convert our pain into our strength and bounce back winning 125 seats in NMC in 2022. I shall not use the word revenge but we will fight in a competitive manner aiming at huge victory,” explained Datke. BJP is banking on the leaders who though did not see victories, keep working for the party, keep building BJP brick by brick. Most of those leaders’ endeavours brought party up to this stage. If the defeats after defeats did not deter our leaders then how can we, who are carrying their legacies get saddened by one defeat. Any defeat gives disappointment which is obvious, but that can’t stop us from winning. It is evident from the fact that our leader Dayashankar Tiwari won Mayor’s election securing all 107 out of 107 votes, pointed out Datke.

 

BJP has completed all the training workshops of booth level, ward level, all the Aaghadis, etc., and explained everything to all the volunteers. It is preparing a strategy of its own. For the first time some activities are taking place in Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena individually or together as Maha Vikas Aaghadi (MVA) is eying victory in the municipal elections. How the BJP sees it? “Whether Maha Vikas Aaghadi (MVA) would fight against us or any individual opposition, whether they have factions among them or not, whether they get divided on the issue of distribution of tickets is less important for us. In fact we are not giving a thought to it. Our focus is on ourselves. We want to win the elections and we are working in that direction under the guidance of our leaders Nitin Gadkari, Devendra Fadnavis and Chandrashekhar Bawankule,” Datke made it clear.

 

‘We will have the whole society with us’: Tiwari “This is the time of struggle and we have to fight back. For me it is a different time. I have planned to start 75 new health posts in city with the help of those many social organisations. When we contest elections these 75 organisations too will be with us,” said confident Dayashankar Tiwari, Mayor. “As far as defeat in Graduates’ constituency polls is concerned, I deliberately took charge of Mayor in a public function. There everybody experienced the huge public response that we received. It is the clear evidence that we are still in the hearts of public and we will bank on that response when we face 2022 municipal elections,” said Tiwari.