MUMBAI: The fierce Maharashtra Assembly elections saw the fall of some giants.
Vaibhav Naik of Shiv Sena, the young district chief in Sindhudurg defeated former Industries Minister Narayan Rane of Congress in his bastion of Kudal by a margin of more than 6,000 votes. Such is the impact of the defeat that Rane, who never faced a defeat before, indicated that he would retire from electoral politics. Vaibhav in 2009 had switched over to Shiv Sena from the Congress with a sole aim to defeat Rane, who was an accused in his uncle’s murder case but was late absolved by the court.
Manda Mhatre of BJP defected from the NCP and joined BJP to take on a powerful minister of Labour, excise and environment Ganesh Naik. Mhatre had dispute with Naik over his consistent ‘negligence’ of her work. Riding on an influence created by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign Mhatre defeated Naik by more than 2,000 votes.
Suresh Bhole of BJP, a newcomer in electoral politics, defeated 10 time MLA Suresh Jain of Shiv Sena in Jalgaon. Jain, accused in a housing scam, contested the election from Central Jail in Dhule. Though he has been behind the bars for three years, his assets have gone up by `100 crore in this period. The BJP got an opportunity to contest in this constituency after it snapped ties with the Shiv Sena.