Maha: Fadnavis blames sympathy factor for BJP's defeat in Kolhapur North bypoll

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the sympathy factor apparently went in favour of MVA candidate Jayashri Jadhav who won the bypoll to the Kolhapur North Assembly constituency in Maharashtra by defeating her BJP rival Satyajit KadamJadhav the wife of late Congress MLA Chandrakant Jadhav won by a margin of 19307 votes by bagging 97332 votesFadnavis said he was satisfied with the bypoll outcome which shows that a space has been created for BJP in the region even as three parties Shiv Sena NCP and Congress contested togetherI am confident that BJP will win this seat in 2024 elections Fadnavis told media persons after a function where a book A Nation to Protectleading India through the Covid crisis authored by Priyam GandhiMody was launched by Union minister Piyush GoyalIn a dig at former ally Shiv Sena Fadnavis said that political compulsions seem to be stopping them from reciting Hanuman ChalisaEarlier independent MLA Ravi Rana and his wife and Lok Sabha member Navneet Rana had demanded that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray who heads Shiv Sena recite Hanuman Chalisa at his residenceFadnavis said the BJP won more votes in Kolhapur North than the total votes polled by Sena and BJP when they had contested together in the 2019 pollsThree parties together secured the same number of votes in Kolhapur North that one party had won in the last elections I feel that BJP is occupying that space he saidThe former chief minister said that the sympathy factor went in favour of the MVA candidate and the bypoll result was more or less expectedIn India specifically in Maharashtra in 19 out of 20 such elections family members especially wives of the deceased legislators have won the opposition leader saidSpeaking on the Hanuman Chalisa issue Fadnavis said We have been reciting Hanuman Chalisa for centuries I feel the reason for their unhappiness is something different There is some political reason which we need to find out Fadnavis said without taking namesHanuman Chalisa has become the hot topic in Maharashtra politics after MNS chief Raj Thackerays ultimatum that MNS will play the hymn in the praise of Lord Hanuman in a higher volume outside mosques after May 3 if loudspeakers atop them are not shut downThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever