Results have begun to emerge in the battle for the Maharashtra Assembly, where the Maha Vikas Aghadi and Mahyuti coalitions have staked their claims to 288 seats. Trends indicate a clear victory for the Mahayuti coalition, which consists of the BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction).
Maharashtra election results 2024 LIVE updates
For the two factions of the NCP, this is also a battle for the legacy of the party. Ajit Pawar’s faction has retained the party name and its election symbol, the clock, while the other faction has been named Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and contested polls under a man blowing trumpet (turha) symbol.
The two factions are battling in 36 seats, 20 of these in the State’s sugar belt, which has been an NCP bastion since the party’s inception. Ajit Pawar’s faction is largely emerging on top in the NCP vs NCP battles. Of these, the battle for Baramati is the most closely-watched one, with Ajit Pawar facing his own nephew Yugendra Pawar.
Overall, trends show NCP leading in 40 seats and NCP SP in 11 seats across the State.
Trends in key NCP battles
Baramati: Ajit Pawar vs Yugendra Pawar
Ajit Pawar is leading by around 67,000 votes over his nephew Yugendra Pawar, who belongs to the NCP-SP faction.
This marks a shift from the Lok Sabha polls, where the Sharad Pawar faction had won the battle for Baramati, with incumbent MP Supriya Sule defeating Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar, who made her poll debut. Now, Ajit Pawar has entered the field himself and sought the voter’s forgiveness, requesting them to “make him happy as they made Pawar (Saheb) happy in Lok Sabha.”
Indapur: Dattatraya Bharne vs Harshvardhan Patil
Dattatraya Bharne is leading by around 15,000 votes over NCP SP’s Harshavardhan Patil, with 12 of 25 rounds of counting completed.
Mr. Patil, a Congress-turned-NCP minister is seeking his fifth term from Indapur, while incumbent MLA and Ajit Pawar aide Dattatray Bharne is seeking a third term. Mr Patil joined the Sharad Pawar faction just ahead of the polls, after he was not given a ticket by the BJP.
Tasgaon-Kavathemahankal: Sanjay Kaka Patil vs Rohit Patil
Rohit Patil of NCP SP is leading by around 25,000 votes over NCP’s Sanjay Kaka Patil.
Mr. Patil, the 25-year-old son of late home minister R.R. Patil is making his poll debut. The seat had been held by R.R Patil from 1990 till his death in 2015. The seat was then won by his wife Sumantai Patil in a subsequent by-election; she was returned for another term in 2019. Meanwhile, Sanjay Kaka Patil is a former BJP MP who is fighting on an NCP ticket.
The battle has brought R.R. Patil’s rivalry with Ajit Pawar during the irrigation scam to the fore.
Yevla: Chhagan Bhujbal vs Manikrao Shinde
NCP’s Chhagan Bhujbal leads by around 11000 votes over NCP(SP)‘s Manikrao Shinde, with 14 of 24 rounds of counting completed.
OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal is seeking his fifth term, but faces a stiff fight from Maratha leader Manikrao Shinde. in Yevla, which falls under the Nashik Parliamentary constituency. They represent two sides of the struggle for Maratha reservation underway in Maharashtra— the Marathas seek to be included in the OBC quota while the OBCs reject any proposal which cuts into their reservation share.
Parli: Dhananjay Munde vs Rajesahab Deshmukh
NCP’s Dhananjay Munde is leading by over 95,000 votes, with NCP(SP)‘s Rajasaheb Shrikishan Deshmukh in second place, with 16 of 26 voting rounds completed.
Parli has been a bastion for the Munde family since the 1990s, when Gopinath Munde first won. In the Lok Sabha elections, however, Pankaja Munde, a BJP leader and Dhananjay Munde’s cousin, lost her election bid to NCP(SP)‘s Bajrang Sonawane.
Shirur: Dnyaneshwar Katke vs Ashok Pawar
NCP’s Dnyaneshwar alias Mauli Aba Katke is leading by a margin of over 52,000 votes, with NCP(SP)‘s Ashok Raosaheb Pawar in second place. Mr. Pawar is the incumbent MLA, seeking his third term in office.
Pimpri: Anna Dadu Bansode vs. Dr. Sulakashana Shilwant-Dhar
In Pimpri, an SC constituency NCP’s Anna Dadu Bansode is leading with a margin of around 37000 over Dr. Sulakashana Shilwant-Dhar of NCP (SP). Mr. Bansode is the incumbent MLA, seeking his third term from the constituency.
Results in NCP vs NCP SP battles
Madha: Abhijeet Dhananjay Patil vs Adv. Minaltai Sathe
Abhijeet Dhananjay Patil of NCP SP notched up the first win the State for his faction, defeating independent Ranjit Babanrao Shinde by a margin of around 30,000 votes. His NCP rival, Adv. Minaltai Dadasaheb Sathe came in third, only garnering 13,381 votes.
Shrivardhan: Aditi Tatkare vs Anil Dattaram Navgane
NCP’s Aditi Tatkare defeated Anil Dattaram Navgane of NCP -SP by a margin of over 82,000 votes. In third place was Rajabhau Thakur, an independent candidate.
Dindori: Narahari Zirwal vs Sunita Charoskar
NCP’s Narahari Zirwal defeated Sunita Charoskar of NCP(SP) by a margin of 44,403. Mr. Zirwal is the incumbent MLA in Dindori and Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Kopargaon: Ashutosh Kale vs Sandeep Varpe
NCP’s Ashutosh Ashokrao Kale has defeated Sandeep Varpe of the NCP(SP) faction by a comfortable margin of over 1.2 lakh votes. Mr. Kale is the incumbent MLA and the chairman of a co-operative sugar factory.
Udgir: Sanjay Bansode vs Sudhakar Bhalerao
NCP’s Sanjay Bansode has defeated NCP(SP)‘s Sudhakar Bhalerao by a margin of 93,214. Mr. Bansode has served as a cabinet minister as well as minister of state in the previous government.
Published – November 23, 2024 03:26 pm IST
