A section of BJP leaders claimed on Saturday that the BJP has made a dent in Vidarbha, considered a Congress stronghold. The outfit was earlier confined to urban Maharashtra, especially Mumbai and Pune. “In Vidarbha, the BJP has become the party of the OBC, farmers and urban middle class,” a party functionary said.
BJP chief Nitin Gadkari could either contest from Vidarbha or from Mumbai. It was claimed that despite Mr Gadkari’s projection as an RSS nominee “he has many friends in the Congress” who have known him since college. Incidentally, the BJP deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Mr Gopinath Munde, also has many friends in the Congress.