NCP's Khadakwasla bypoll loss a huge blow to Pawars: BJP candidate Bhimrao Tapkir

MUMBAI: BJP candidate Bhimrao Tapkir won Maharshtra’s Khadakwasla assembly bypoll defeating the NCP’s Harshada Wanjale. The bypoll result is perceived a major jolt to the Pawars as the Khadakwasla assembly segment is a part of Baramati parliamentary constituency, said analysts. NCP leader and Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule is the Baramati MP.

Sule said the bypoll result came as a shock to the Congress-NCP combine. Harshada was expected to have a smooth run and ride the sympathy wave. The seat fell vacant after her husband MNS legislator Ramesh Wanjale’s death in June.
NCP’s defeat margin though has come down from 13,000 votes in 2009 to 3,625 in this bypoll. “We are shocked at the outcome of the bypoll. It’s time for some introspection . We will work for the people and find out why our candidate lost the election ,” Sule said.

There were reports that Harshada would fight the bypoll on MNS ticket. But the NCP persuading her to contest the election as its candidate . Ever since the election programme was declared, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and Sule had been camping at Khadakwasla.

When Harshada filed her nomination, it was assumed the election would be a cakewalk for her. Most parties had been reluctant to field their nominees. The BJP sprung a surprise at the last moment and named corporator Tapkir as its candidate. Shiv Sena and the Ramdas Athavale-led RPI supported Tapkir.

BJP leader Gopinath Munde, who had campaigned for Tapkir, said, “We are surprised at the outcome of the poll. It has clearly established that neither Sharad Pawar nor his nephew Ajit Pawar rules Baramati any more. We are emerging as an alternative to the Congress-NCP alliance and are sure we will repeat this performance in the panchayat and civic polls.”