The Congress claimed on Thursday that a panel supported by the party won the Gram Panchayat election in Union minister Nitin Gadkari's native village in Maharashtra's Nagpur.
Congress-backed panels won at the senior BJP leader's native village Dhapewada in Kalmeshwar tehsil as well as at Pachgaon in Umred tehsil, a village which he has adopted, the opposition party claimed.
Gram panchayat elections are not fought on party symbols, though political parties support various panels.
Former minister and Nagpur district Congress chief Rajendra Mulak claimed that it was a setback to the BJP as it could not retain power at Pachgaon, a village adopted by Mr Gadkari.
The BJP had earlier faced defeats in panchayat polls in the villages adopted by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and district guardian minister Chandrashekar Bawankule, he said.
Congress MLA Sunil Kedar claimed that candidates supported by his party bagged 16 out of 17 gram panchayat seats at Dhapewada village, including the post of sarpanch.
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