Nagpur: Congress has formally renominated sitting MLC Abhijit Govindrao Wanjarri from Nagpur Division Graduates’ constituency, but BJP is yet to announce its candidate, keeping the contest in suspense with just days left for nominations.Wanjarri is preparing to file his nomination on Oct 5, while BJP camp’s former MLA Sudhakar Kohale and former MLC Anil Sole have stepped up voter outreach and organisational preparations across the six districts that make up the constituency — Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli.BJP, on the other hand, is yet to finalise its candidate. Kohale, the party’s voter registration in-charge for the constituency, has been actively contacting voters, while Sole has also been mobilising his supporters. Reports have indicated that both names remain under consideration.The possibility of a third candidate has also surfaced. BJP sources said the name of Sudhir Diwe, who has served as an officer on special duty to Union minister Nitin Gadkari, is being discussed as a possible option. A senior functionary, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the party could consider a third candidate if it felt choosing either Kohale or Sole could lead to some supporters of the other aspirant moving away from the campaign.BJP’s candidate-selection debate has attracted attention because Congress wrested the seat from BJP in the 2020 election, when Wanjarri defeated BJP’s former mayor Sandip Joshi by over 18,000 votes. The saffron party had held the constituency for decades before that defeat. The constituency had earlier been represented by Gadkari and Gangadharrao Fadnavis, father of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.Meanwhile, Wanjarri’s supporters have begun contacting graduates across the constituency and are reaching out to senior Congress functionaries in different areas to assign election responsibilities, broadly following the party’s organisational approach in the previous election.Congress is also preparing for a show of strength during Wanjarri’s nomination. Maharashtra Congress in-charge Srinivas BV and MPCC president Harshwardhan Sapkal are expected to accompany him along with other senior leaders.The nomination process has already begun, with candidates and their supporters working on updated voter lists, booth-level networks and constituency-wide voter contact. The final electoral roll is under preparation after registration closed on Sept 27. The electorate is expected to cross 2.4 lakh.The nomination deadline is Oct 6, followed by scrutiny on Oct 7. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until Oct 9. Polling is scheduled for Oct 23 and counting for Oct 27, with the entire election process to be completed by Oct 31.The early interest is reflected in the nomination process, with 29 prospective candidates reportedly collecting 53 nomination forms on the first day. The final field will emerge only after nominations, scrutiny and withdrawals.Election scheduleSept 29 — Nomination process beginsOct 6 — Last date for filing nominationsOct 7 — Scrutiny of nominationsOct 9 — Last date for withdrawalOct 23 — PollingOct 27 — CountingOct 31 — Election process to be completed
