India Morning News
Nagpur: Congress leader and senior corporator Prafull Gudhde Patil has suffered a big shock after the new reservation list for the Nagpur Municipal Corporation. His area, Ward No. 38 – Jaitala, now has all three seats reserved for women. For almost 25 years, this ward has been a strong seat for Gudhde and Congress. BJP has never defeated him here.
In the last election, BJP won 108 seats in the city. Many Congress leaders lost. But in Jaitala, all three Congress candidates—Prafull Gudhde, Ujjwala Bankar, and Pranita Shahane—won. This ward comes under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ South-West Nagpur Assembly area.
Gudhde and Fadnavis have fought against each other twice in Assembly elections. Gudhde never won the Assembly seat, and BJP never defeated him in the municipal election. Gudhde is known as a hardworking corporator and a strong opponent of Fadnavis. He was also the Congress group leader in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation.
Gudhde was recently promoted by Rahul Gandhi and given a place in the Congress national executive. He was also given responsibility for Haryana. But because of the new reservation, he cannot contest the upcoming municipal election. Now Congress will have to search for a new woman candidate for Jaitala ward.
