CHANDIGARH/MUMBAI: From defeat of the country's richest woman--Savitri Jindal--in Haryana to a 88-year-old legislator in Maharashtra scripting history winning for the 11th time, some interesting facts emerged today in the Assembly polls in the two states.
Jindal, who is the mother of business magnate and Congress leader Naveen Jindal, a former MP, lost to BJP's Dr Kamal Gupta by 13,646 votes from Hisar.
Jindal, who is also stated to be the richest woman in Asia, is a minister in the outgoing Bhupinder Singh Hooda government. She is the non-executive chairperson of O P Jindal Group that has interests in the steel, power and mining sectors. She was named India's richest woman by Forbes.
In Maharashtra, Ganpatrao Deshmukh, 88, who represented Sangola seat in Solapur district, had in 2009 become the second legislator in India after DMK Chief M Karunanidhi to have won 10 elections.
The Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) politician, who has represented Sangola for a record 54 years, today defeated Shahajibapu Patil of Shiv Sena by 25,224 votes. NCP had not fielded a candidate against him.
Deshmukh, who has worked in his drought-prone constituency, is also a former minister and the October 15 polls were his 13th Assembly election.
He was first elected an MLA in 1962 and since then, except for the 1972 and 1995 polls, has won 10 elections. In 2012, Deshmukh completed 50 years in the Assembly and was felicitated by the House and the government.
He spent most of his career on the opposition benches, but was twice a minister.
He first became a minister of state for a brief period when Sharad Pawar split from Congress and formed Progressive Democratic Front government in 1978, and the second time was in 1999, when PWP supported the Congress-NCP alliance.
Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Narayan Rane, who lost from Kudal in Sindhudurg district, suffered his first poll defeat.
"I accept the defeat. People of Konkan brought me into politics and gave me a chance to serve them. Now they have handed me my first electoral defeat," Rane, the Konkan strongman and a six-time MLA who has been winning from 1990, told reporters in his constituency.
Rane, a former Shiv Sena leader, was defeated by Sena's Vaibhav Naik by about 9,000 votes. The defeat is embarrassing for Congress as he was the party's campaign committee chief.
Rane, however, congratulated his son Nitesh, who won from neighbouring Kankavli on Congress ticket. "People of Kankavli have elected a hard-working young man such as Nitesh with a margin of over 25,000 votes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Kankavli had no impact on his electoral chances," he noted.
Haryana Minister and six-time MLA from Rewari Ajay Singh Yadav lost his traditional seat finishing third.