Mumbai, Oct 28 Mahayuti allies BJP and Shiv Sena won one seat each out of the five Maharashtra Legislative Council constituencies on Wednesday, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) claimed victory in the remaining three seats, including Nagpur.
The results of three constituencies have been formally declared even as counting continued in two other seats. Polling was held using ballot papers.
The NCP (SP) has won the Pune Graduates constituency and claimed to be leading in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) Graduates constituency. Both seats were held earlier by the undivided NCP (currently a Mahayuti constituent) before it split in 2023.
The Congress claimed its candidate has won the Nagpur Graduates constituency, with state unit chief Harshwardhan Sapkal saying that the BJP nominee has been trounced in the RSS headquarters.
Polling for the Pune Graduates’, Nagpur Graduates’, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates’, Pune Teachers’ and Amravati Teachers’ constituencies took place on October 23, recording a voter turnout of 72.96 per cent, as per officials.
The polls were necessitated because the term of the sitting members of these constituencies ends on December 6.
Among the five seats that went to polls on October 23, the BJP has opened its account by bagging one on Wednesday.
Shiv Sena’s Kiran Sarnaik emerged victorious in the Amravati Teachers’ constituency, while BJP nominee Kaustubh Gawade won the Pune Teachers’ constituency. NCP (SP) candidate Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav defeated BJP nominee Smita Jadhav to win the Pune Graduates constituency, according to a statement issued by the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer’s office on Wednesday night.
Counting of votes is underway for the Nagpur Graduates and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates constituencies, and the results would be declared after the process is completed, the statement said.
“The third round of counting is over. The second preference votes are being counted. I am leading by around 17,000 votes. I thank the graduates and MVA leaders who fought this election with full strength,” NCP (SP) candidate from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates’ constituency Pratapsinh Patil told reporters.
He has locked horns with NCP’s sitting MLC Satish Chavan, who joined the Ajit Pawar-led faction in 2023. Independent candidate Raviraj Sabale also secured a sizeable number of votes.
Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Dilip Ghuge was at the fourth position.
The Congress said it retained the Nagpur Graduates’ constituency, with sitting MLC Abhijit Wanjari defeating BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale and Independent candidate Nitesh Karale.
On Wednesday, Sarnaik (Shiv Sena) polled 16,663 votes against the winning quota of 16,134 in the Amravati Teachers’ constituency, officials said.
His nearest rivals were Congress’s Aditi Pohre and Sena rebel Shrikant Deshpande. Pohre stood in second place.
In Pune Teachers’ constituency, Gawade (BJP) defeated Shiv Sena-backed candidate Sachin Sanap, who is an OSD to state minister Uday Samant, and sitting Congress MLC Jayant Asagaonkar.
At the end of 28 rounds, Gawade secured 23,117 votes while Sanap bagged 16,347 votes.
Gawade said his victory belonged to the teaching community and vowed to work towards resolving teachers’ long-pending issues.
He said Shiv Sena-backed candidate Sanap contested the election in a friendly manner despite representing a different party within the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
In the Pune Graduates constituency, NCP (SP) candidate Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav defeated BJP nominee Smita Jadhav.
Harshada secured 1,13,840 votes while Smita Jadhav bagged 1,03,912 votes, officials said.
The winning quota in the polls is 1,13,095.
Even after 40 hours, the counting for the Nagpur Graduates’ constituency continued.
BJP candidate Kohale polled 60,924 votes while Congress’ Wanjari secured 56,630 in the afternoon, officials said.
Currently, the counting for second preference votes is underway.
Wanjari claimed he is leading and headed towards a decisive victory.
Maharashtra Congress president Sapkal, in a post on X, claimed that Congress-MVA candidate Abhijeet Wanjari has inflicted a crushing defeat on the BJP nominee in Nagpur.
“In the city of RSS headquarters, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, the Congress party has defeated the BJP for the second consecutive time.
“Out of the 5 seats in the Legislative Council, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has won three seats, delivering a crushing blow to the BJP Mahayuti. Despite having power, money, and all resources, the BJP has suffered a defeat,” he claimed.
Sapkal said Prime Minister Narendra Modi mocked the Congress by saying that the party drew a blank in polls.
“However, the bubble of illusion has burst in the end,” he claimed.
As results are being declared, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel called for an immediate review of the party’s priorities and organisational structure as its sole candidate appeared to be losing in the Legislative Council elections.
The party candidate and three-time sitting MLC Satish Chavan was trailing in the Aurangabad Graduates constituency, as counting of votes was underway.
In a post on X, Patel said the results were a clear and significant warning for the party and stressed the need for introspection to regain people’s trust, realign priorities and bring about organisational reforms.
Patel further said in his post that there was a need for immediate and rigorous self-examination as the result was a definite wake-up call.
Earlier, he had expressed regret that the party could not get the Pune graduates’ seat while discussing seat-sharing with its Mahayuti allies BJP and Shiv Sena.
In the 78-member Legislative Council, the BJP is the largest party with 35 members, followed by the Shiv Sena with 12 and the NCP with 10. Among the opposition parties, the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) have five MLCs each, while the NCP (SP) has two. The House also has four independent MLCs.
(PTI News)
