Maharashtra election results: Heena Gavit retains Nandurbar seat

NASHIK: BJP’s Heena Gavit has managed to sail through the opposition from a section of voters in the tribal dominated Nandurbar Lok Sabha constituency.


Riding high on the Centre’s welfare schemes related to distribution of LPG cylinders, power connections, toilets and housings for the tribals, Gavit retained the seat that has been traditionally with the Congress.

Gavit defeated Congress’s KC Padvi by 95,629 votes. Her victory margin reduced by 11,276 votes as against what it was in the 2014 polls.

Nandurbar was a challenge for the BJP because of the resentment among a section of the voters, especially the Maratha community, against her. Gavit had been in the news after her car was attacked allegedly by those belonging to Maratha community when she was in Dhule to attend a meeting at the collector’s office.

Though she had escaped unhurt, her car was damaged. Belonging to the Scheduled Tribe, Gavit had registered a complaint with the police under atrocity. This had hurt the Marathas who, in April vowed not to vote for her.

Besides, a section of the BJP leaders and workers at the district level had alleged that was peeved with Gavit as they felt ignored by her. A senior district leader, Suhas Natwadkar, had rebelled against the party leadership for giving her the poll ticket and contested the elections as an independent candidate .

State BJP insiders admitted that the odds were against Gavit. “However, over 4 lakh tribal population was the beneficiary of various central government schemes in Nandurbar. Despite the odds, Gavit managed to win the seat comfortably,” a state BJP leader said.