Nitin Gadkari will win by a margin of over 4 lakh votes, claims BJP

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, on Saturday, evoked confidence that Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, would retain Nagpur seat of Lok Sabha this time with a margin of over 4,00,000 votes. “The works done by Gadkari in the past five years are unparalleled. Right from the setting up of national institutions to making Metro Rail operational and road construction, his works are visible. Hence, we are confident that he will win again from Nagpur constituency with a huge margin,” said Sudhakar Deshmukh, MLA and Election In-charge, while addressing a press conference at Patrakar Club on Saturday evening. According to Deshmukh, during Gadkari’s tenure as Union Minister, the city of Nagpur received a ‘tremendous boost’ to development. “He had envisioned to transform Nagpur into an educational hub, and has worked on it. As a result, today, Nagpur has Indian Institute of Management, Indian Institute of Information Technology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, National Law University, Sports Authority of India’s centre. Besides, work on the campus of Symbiosis University is in progress,” he said.

Responding to the criticism of Nana Patole, Congress candidate from Nagpur constituency, that Gadkari should publish a White Paper on development and burden on Nagpurians, Deshmukh said that it was all on record and booklets had been published in this regard. On Patole’s criticism that BJP had not addressed the serious issue of unemployment while executing developmental works in Nagpur, Deshmukh said that the information was available regarding direct and indirect employment generated through Metro Rail, MIHAN, National Highway projects. Deshmukh took the opportunity to take a dig at Nana Patole over the latter’s criticism of Gadkari. “Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader in Lok Sabha; and Sonia Gandhi, former President of Congress party, both have praised Gadkari in Lok Sabha for his performance as far as developmental works is concerned. Before questioning what has Gadkari done, Patole should consult the senior leaders of his own party,” quipped Deshmukh. Asked about the focus of BJP’s election campaign in Lok Sabha elections in Nagpur, Deshmukh replied in one word, “Development.” He explained that BJP would not run campaign on caste or religious sentiments. For, he said, it is a party with firm belief on ‘development of all and development for all’. In the press conference, Deshmukh announced the Steering Committee for Nagpur constituency.

As per the list of members, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Guardian Minister of Nagpur district, is the Cluster Chief, and Pravin Pote Patil, Minister of State, is Lok Sabha constituency in-charge. Sudhakar Deshmukh is Election In-charge. Sudhakar Kohale, MLA and BJP city chief, is Election Convener, and Krishna Khopde, MLA, is Co-Convener. Pravin Datke, Sandip Joshi, and Rajesh Bagdi are Election Co-incharges. “Already, we have chalked out our strategy and are holding meetings accordingly,” he added. Other members of Steering Committee include Datta Meghe, former MP; Nanda Jichkar, Mayor; Dr Upendra Kothekar; Ramdas Ambatkar, Prof Anil Sole, Girish Vyas, N G Ganar, Parinay Fuke, all of them MLCs; Vikas Kumbhare, Dr Milind Mane, Nana Shamkule, all of them MLAs; Vikas Mahatme, Rajya Sabha Member; Ajay Sancheti, former MP; Maya Iwnate, Mohan Mate, Virendra Kukreja, Jayprakash Gupta, Shrikant Deshpande, Jamal Siddiqui, and other leaders. The party has also appointed Assembly segment-wise in-charges and chiefs.

They are as follows: South-West segment -- Rajiv Hadap and Ramesh Bhandari; West -- Sudhakar Deshmukh and Kisan Gawande, North -- Dr Milind Mane and Dilip Gaur, East -- Krishna Khopde and Mahendra Raut, Central -- Vikas Kumbhare and Bandu Raut; and South -- Balwant Jichkar and Sanjay Thakre. Prof Anil Sole, Krishna Khopde, Vikas Kumbhare, Pravin Datke, and Sandip Joshi also were present during the press conference. BJP to release manifesto soon: Deshmukh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not only constituted Steering Committee for the Lok Sabha elections, but also the Manifesto Committee. Girish Vyas, MLC, heads the Manifesto Committee of the party for Nagpur constituency. “We will soon release the manifesto,” said Sudhakar Deshmukh, MLA and Election In-charge of the party.