MUMBAI: The BJP and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP) won two seats each in the biennial elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Council, while the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena won one seat.
The Election Commission of India held polls for five seats across the Pune Graduates, Pune Teachers, Nagpur Graduates, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates and Amravati Teachers constituencies. A total of 182 candidates were in the fray.
In the Pune Graduates constituency, NCP-SP candidate Harshada Deshmukh defeated BJP candidate Smita Jadhav in a close contest. In the Pune Teachers constituency, BJP candidate Kaustubh Gawade defeated Shiv Sena-backed independent candidate Sachin Sanap.
In the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates constituency, NCP-SP candidate Dr Pratap Sinh Patil defeated sitting NCP MLC Satish Chavan and Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Dilip Ghughe. The defeat drew criticism from NCP leader Praful Patel, who called on the party leadership to introspect and work towards strengthening its base.
In the Amravati Teachers constituency, Shiv Sena candidate Kiran Sardesai defeated Congress candidate Aditi Pohare and Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Dattatraya Lahane.
The Nagpur Graduates constituency witnessed a close contest between sitting MLC and Congress candidate Abhijit Wanjari and BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale. NCP-SP rebel Nitesh Karade also secured a significant number of votes. Kohale led in the first round, while Wanjari took the lead in the second. The contest moved to the third round, with Karade’s second-preference votes expected to play a decisive role.
The elections were politically significant for the ruling Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes the Congress, NCP-SP and Shiv Sena (UBT).
The BJP and NCP-SP won two seats each, while the Shiv Sena secured one. The Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) failed to win any seats.
A total of 1.06 million graduate and teacher voters were eligible to vote across 2,419 polling stations in the five constituencies. Turnout was highest in the Amravati Teachers constituency at 91.08%, followed by Pune Teachers at 85.87%. The Nagpur Graduates constituency recorded 64.76% turnout, Pune Graduates 62.78% and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates 58.67%.
