BJP Wins Mayoral Election in Chandrapur Amidst Congress Infighting

Though the BJP put up a strong show across the 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra, Vidarbha proved to be a mixed bag for the party. While it retained its bastion of Nagpur, the hometown of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, and scraped through in Akola and Amravati, the Chandrapur civic body grabbed the limelight after the BJP – with some help from unexpected quarters – turned the tables on the Congress to install its mayor there. The Congress had emerged as the single-largest party, winning 27 of the 66 seats in Chandrapur, four more than the BJP’s 23. The Sena (UBT) won six seats while the Congress-backed Bharatiya Shetkari Kamgar Paksha bagged three. The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) secured two seats, while the AIMIM, BSP and Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde won one each, besides two Independents. On paper, the arithmetic appeared to favour the Congress, which was expected to take control of the civic body with Sena (UBT) and smaller allies. What followed, however, was a fortnight of intense manoeuvring marked by factional infighting, strategic outreach and last-minute crossovers — culminating in a one-vote victory for the BJP in the mayoral election on Tuesday. BJP’s early setback The BJP’s initial setback in Chandrapur came amid visible tensions between senior leader Sudhir Mungantiwar and MLA Kishor Jorgewar, who joined the party in 2024. The rift surfaced during the dedication ceremony of the Rs 280-crore Pandit Deendayal Chandrapur Cancer Hospital. Mungantiwar, without naming Jorgewar, publicly expressed anguish, alleging that a party MLA had tried to stall the event The episode seemingly dented the morale of the cadre and gave the Congress an opportunity to highlight divisions within the ruling party. However, as results trickled in, the Congress found itself grappling with deeper internal fissures. The Congress’s troubles began after Chandrapur MP Pratibha Dhanorkar and MLA Vijay Wadettiwar locked horns over control of the district unit and the civic body. Dhanorkar accused Wadettiwar of indulging in factional politics and staking claim to her parliamentary constituency. Wadettiwar responded sharply: “Becoming an MP does not mean one owns a district,” he said, underlining his long association with Chandrapur. He dismissed speculation of defections and maintained that all groups would unite to ensure a Congress mayor is installed. The rivalry reflects deeper political currents. Wadettiwar, a five-term MLA who shifted from Chimur to Brahmapuri in 2014, has long been the Congress’s most notable face in the region and a prominent Teli leader. Dhanorkar, who won the Lok Sabha elections 2024 following the death of her husband and former MP Balu Dhanorkar, commands significant support among Kunbis. Her elevation altered the district’s internal power balance. The friction had surfaced earlier during the Lok Sabha ticket allocation, when Wadettiwar had lobbied for his daughter Shivani, but the party high command chose Dhanorkar. After the corporation results, the tussle turned organisational. Both leaders sought to place loyalists in key civic and district posts. At one stage, Dhanorkar acknowledged that corporators had been moved to a hotel to “ensure their safety”. Supporters of both camps operated independently, bypassing the party hierarchy. Wadettiwar led a delegation of corporators to New Delhi to demonstrate strength. Eighteen corporators aligned with his camp briefly approached the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court over a group registration dispute before withdrawing the petition within 24 hours, saying the matter had been resolved. Eventually, the party high command and the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) proposed a power-sharing formula: the mayor’s post for the Dhanorkar camp and the group leader’s position for the Wadettiwar faction. Publicly, Wadettiwar asserted that all 27 Congress corporators would vote together and that there was “no confusion” over the mayoral post. While the Congress projected unity, it struggled to manage its ally. The Sena (UBT) initially staked claim to the mayor’s post. The party’s district president Sandip Girhe said discussions were held with Congress leaders, including Wadettiwar, but alleged that the Congress — particularly Dhanorkar — was unwilling to offer the post even once during the term. Senior Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare later said the decision to align with the BJP was taken by the local leadership, in line with the party’s policy of empowering district units in civic polls. She said party chief Uddhav Thackeray had been kept informed and that there was no discord between the local and central leadership. While the AIMIM remained neutral in the mayoral election, the VBA abstained from voting. Although AIMIM did not field a candidate for mayor, it contested the deputy mayor’s post, backing its nominee Pappu Deshmukh and voted in his favour. On the other hand, Sources said VBA corporators had been directed to support the Congress but failed to turn up on polling day, triggering the prospect of disciplinary action against local leaders. Amid allegations that the abstention aided the BJP, the VBA dissolved its city executive committee and suspended its city president for taking a stand contrary to the party line. BJP snatches victory The shifting contours saw the BJP mayoral candidate Sangita Khandekar win the poll by a single vote. While Khandekar got 32 votes, the Congress’s Vaishali Mahadole managed to get only 31. State Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal blamed the AIMIM’s “neutrality” and VBA abstention for the defeat but maintained that all Congress corporators had voted as a united bloc. He also accused the BJP of horse-trading. Sapkal warned that the fallout could reverberate across Maharashtra, particularly as the Congress and Sena (UBT) are partners in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). He hinted that similar political tests could await Sena (UBT) in corporations where it holds stronger numbers. By the time of the mayoral election, the BJP appeared to have set aside its internal differences with Jorgewar publicly saying that while Congress leaders were “busy managing their own corporators”, the BJP was united and exploring all options to install its mayor. For the Congress, Chandrapur signalled a revival — an improvement from 12 seats in 2017 to 27 this time, largely attributed to Wadettiwar’s organisational groundwork and Dhanorkar’s Lok Sabha momentum – till internal rifts handed the advantage to the BJP.