Nagpur: When the BJP went solo in the last Assembly polls, it struck gold by winning 26 of the 32 seats in eastern Vidarbha. Nagpur district alone contributed 11 seats. With son of the soil Devendra Fadnavis vying another term as Maharashtra boss, Nagpur, from where the party's ideological parent RSS operates, is again looking to spin magic. The BJP is marketing initiatives such as infrastructure development, new national educational institutes, IT jobs and farm loan waiver, along with their nationalist agenda. But, the Opposition claims to have made the ruling party's ride bumpier. The most confident of the lot is Congress candidate Ashish Deshmukh, who is up against CM Fadnavis in Nagpur South-West, a carefully cultivated BJP bastion for 30 years. "I'm on my way to create history by beating Fadnavis. Please be here on result day to see it happen," he told mid-day.

'The CM rejected his people'

It was Fadnavis who gave Ashish, the son of former state Congress president Ranjit Deshmukh, a ticket to fight the 2014 elections. Ashish beat his uncle and sitting minister Anil Deshmukh from Katol, but later quit BJP and gave up his seat to return to the Congress ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Ashish said his claims might seem unrealistic at this stage, but the results will prove him right. When asked why people would choose him over the CM, Ashish said Fadnavis had lost connect with the city and ignored real public issues. "The CM has kept his Nagpur home closed. People don't have access to him. Have you seen a CM who rejects his own people? Sharad Pawar, Vilasrao Deshmukh and many others worked in the state capital, but stayed connected to their roots."