Pune, April 16 : Maha Vikas Aaghadi’s (MVA) candidate Jaya Jadhav’s victory in the Kolhapur North Assembly by-election will set an example for the state and the country, Congress Maharashtra chief Nana Patole said on Saturday. Reacting to the result of the bypolls, Nana Patole, in a statement, said Kolhapur is the land of Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj. Attempts to spread religious hatred will never be successful in this land of social equality and harmony. He further said the self-respecting people from the land of Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj have rejected the BJP, engaged in divisive, communal politics and was threatening the voters with ED action if they didn’t vote for them. In the Kolhapur by-election, all the BJP leaders, including Devendra Fadnavis, tried to secure votes by creating a religious rift between comm ties, but the self-respecting people of Kolhapur have given a slap in the face to those who spread hatred, by electing the Maha Vikas Aghadi candidate. Prices of petrol, diesel, gas and essential commodities have skyrocketed in the country. Issues of rising unemployment, woes of farmers and workers continue to be ignored by the BJP government . While the country is facing such burning issues, the BJP has raised religious issues to cover up the failure of the central government. The MVA government fought the election on the issue of development and the work done by the state government. Today’s victory is a vote of approval by the people for the development work of the Mahavikas Aghadi government under the leadership of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. BJP state president Chandrakant Patil had earlier fled from Kolhapur and contested from Pune. He had said if he was defeated in Kolhapur, he would go to the Himalayas. Patole said now it’s time for Patil to go to the Himalayas from Pune, it added. SP NV SY 1615