As the BJP-led alliance retained the power with a historic win in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, there were some stalwarts and prominent leaders from both Mahayuti and the Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA) who saw less than ideal results in their constituencies.
The Mahayuti has won or leading in over 233 seats out of total 288, with the BJP alone in 132 seats, Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has won or is ahead in 57 seats and NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is poised to win 41 seats. While Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a rude jolt as it was leading in just 49 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray poised to win just 20 seats, Congress 16 and NCP(SP) led by Sharad Pawar only 10 seats. In the MVA camp, the prominent lossers are: Congress leader and former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, another Congress veteran Balasaheb Thorat, a nine-time contestant and chief ministerial aspirant; Dhiraj Deshmukh, son of late Congress CM Vilasrao Deshmukh, and Ruturaj Patil, nephew of Congress strongman Satej Patil from Kolhapur South. NCP (SCP)'s Yugendra Pawar, who is Sharad Pawar's grandnephew, and actor Swara Bhasker's husband Fahad Ahmad also bite the dust. Ahmad lost to Sana Malik, daughter of Nawab Malik in Anushakti Nagar seat. This battle was a close one with Malik winning the seat by 3 thousand votes. However, NCP-SCP's Rohit Pawar, another grandnephew of Sharad Pawar, won his seat in Karjat Jamkhed. Whereas in the Mahayuti camp, leaders such as Shaina NC, BJP leader and former minister Milind Deora and NCP's Zeeshan Siddique, son of murdered politician Baba Siddique, also bite the dust. Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan of the Congress lost his Karad (south) seat by a margin of more than 39 thousand votes against BJP's Atul Bhosale. Chavan had been the representative of the seat since 2014. NCP's Ajit Pawar won the prestige battle of Baramati, where he defeated his nephew and NCP (SCP) leader Yugendra Pawar by over 1 lakh votes. NCP candidate Zeeshan Siddique, son of murdered politician Baba Siddique, was unable to win from the Vandre east constituency, losing to Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Varun Sardesai. Congreess' incumbent MLA Dhiraj Deshmukh lost to BJP's Ramesh Karad by more than 6 thousand votes in the Latur rural constituency. Teosa candidate of Congress, Yashomati Thakur lost to BJP's Rajesh Wankhade by more than 7 thousand votes. This loss ended a winning streak of Congress in Teosa, as Thakur had been representing the seat since 2009. In Pune Cantonment, Ramesh Bagwe of Congress lost to BJP's Kamble Sunil by a margin of 10 thousand votes. Congress' Ganpatrao Patil was also unable to secure a win in Shirol constituency, losing to Rajarshi Shahu Vikas Aghadi party's candidate Rajendra Patil by a margin of 40 thousand votes. Meanwhile, Mahayuti leaders who scored significant victories are: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Kopari Pachpakhadi, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis in Nagpur Southwest, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar in Baramati, and several others, including the BJP's Sambhaji Nilangekar and Jaykumar Rawal. In the Mahayuti camp too there were few candidates who were not able to perform as per expectations. NCP's Nawab Malik had moved away from his usual constituency of Anushakti Nagar and contested from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar seat. He was unable to secure the top three spot as Samajwadi party's Abu Azmi won the seat. In this seat ,Shiv Sena had also fielded their own candidate, Suresh Patil. Also, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's candidate Amit Thackery, son of MNS Chief Raj Thackeray, was unable to secure a win from the Mahim constituency. Mahesh Sawant of Shiv Sena (UBT) won the seat. However, from both alliances, there were certain prominent leaders who saw a victory in their electoral battles. Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Aditya Thackeray won the Worli seat against Shiv Sena's Milind Deora in a 'sena vs sena' battle by a margin of more than 8 thousand votes. Congress' Amin Patil, candidate from Mumbadevi constituency won against Shiv Sena candidate Shaina NC by more than 34 thousand votes. Congress' Kadam Patangrao won the Palus Kadegaon seat, defeating BJP's Sangram Deshmukh by a margin of 30 thousand votes. Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sunil Rajaram Raut, younger brother of Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, retained Vikhroli constituency, defeating Shiv Sena's Suvarna Karanje in another 'sena vs sena' battle by a margin of 15 thousand votes. Congress president Nana Patole was able to secure a win in the Sakoli seat by a thin margin of 208 votes, besting BJP's Avinash Brahmankar. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar retained his Baramati constituency, a seat he has won since 1991. He was up against NCP (SCP)'s Yungendra Pawar, his nephew. Ajit Pawar won the seat by a decisive margin of over 1 lakh votes. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde retained his Kopri Pachpakhadi seat, the constituency he has won since 2009. Shinde won the seat by a decisive margin of more than 1.2 lakh votes. He was against Shiv Sena's (UBT) Kedar Dighe. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis won the Nagpur South West constituency by a margin of 39 thousand votes, beating Congress' Prafulla Gudadhe. (ANI)
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