MUMBAI: The Ajit Pawar-led NCP has defeated the NCP (SP) headed by his uncle Sharad Pawar in 29 seats in the contest between the two rival factions in the Maharashtra assembly elections.
The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) came out as the winner in six constituencies, as per the results announced on Saturday.
The Nationalist Congress Party of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti, won 41 of the 59 seats it contested, as per the Election Commission’s figures.
The NCP (SP), led by his uncle, had to be content with only ten victories, though it fielded 86 candidates.
The NCP, founded by Sharad Pawar, split last year after Ajit Pawar walked away with 41 MLAs and aligned with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and BJP to become part of the Mahayuti government, triggering an acrimonious intra-family rivalry.
Ajit Pawar faced a big setback in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls when his cousin and Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule defeated his wife Sunetra Pawar on their home turf, Baramati.
On Saturday, Ajit Pawar defeated his nephew Yugendra Pawar, endorsed by 83-year-old Sharad Pawar, by a margin of over 1 lakh votes, inflicting on the veteran leader the first-ever defeat in this family bastion.
The 29 seats that the NCP bagged in a direct fight with the NCP (SP) candidates included Sindhkhed Raja, where Manoj Kayande defeated sitting MLA Rajendra Shingane, who had earlier sided with Ajit Pawar but subsequently returned to his parent party.
Aheri saw another intra-family battle, with Dharmarao Atram of the NCP defeating his daughter Bhagyashree of the NCP (SP).
Indranil Naik beat Sharad Maind of NCP (SP) in Pusad, while Chandrakant Navghare came in top in the face-off against Jaiprakash Dandegaonkar of NCP (SP) in Basmath.
Prominent OBC leader and Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal defeated Manikrao Shinde of NCP (SP) in Yeola. In Sinnar, Manikrao Kokate won against Uday Sangale of NCP (SP).
Maharashtra assembly deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal of the NCP retained his Dindori seat, registering a triumph over Sunita Charoskar.
Daulat Daroda beat Pandurang Barora in Shahapur, while former minister Nawab Malik’s daughter Sana Malik won against NCP (SP) nominee Fahad Ahmad, who is also the husband of actor Swara Bhasker, in Mumbai’s Anushaktinagar in a high-decibel contest.
Anil Navgane of the NCP (SP) was bested by minister Aditi Tatkare in the coastal Srivardhan. In Ambegaon, her cabinet colleague Dilip Walse Patil defeated Devdutt Nikam.
Shirur constituency saw Dnyaneshwar Katke winning the fight against Ashok Pawar of the NCP (SP).
Anna Bandsode trounced Sulakshana Dhar of NCP (SP) in Pimpri, while Kiran Lahamate defeated Amit Bhangare of NCP (SP) in Akole.
In Kopargaon, Ashutosh Kale beat Sandeep Varpe of NCP (SP).
Sangram Jagtap defeated Abhishek Kalamkar of the NCP (SP) in Ahmednagar City. In Majalgaon, Prakash Solanke marched to victory, leaving behind Mohan Jagtap of the NCP (SP).
Minister Dhananjay Munde took a whopping lead of 1.4 lakh votes over Rajesaheb Deshmukh to emerge as the winner in Parli of Beed district in the Marathwada region.
Babasaheb Patil defeated Vinayak Jadhav Patil of NCP (SP) in Ahmedpur, while Sanjay Bandsode scored over Sudhakar Bhalerao of NCP (SP) in Udgir.
In Phaltan, Deepak Chavan of NCP (SP) was bested by Sachin Patil. His party colleague Makrand Patil defeated Aruna Pisal of the NCP (SP) in Wai. Shekar Nikam won the face-off against Prashant Yadav of the NCP (SP) in Chiplun.
Minister Hasan Mushrif registered victory in Kagal by trouncing Samarjit Ghatge. Kashinath Date beat Rani Lanke of NCP (SP) in Parner, and Raju Karemore defeated Charan Waghmare of NCP (SP) in Tumsar.
In Indapur, Datta Bharne won against Harshvardhan Patil, who had crossed over from the BJP to NCP (SP) before the November 20 polls.
Notably, Sharad Pawar’s party polled 11.28 percent of all votes. The figure for the NCP stood at 9.01 percent.
Referring to the rivals as “traitors,” Sharad Pawar had asked voters to defeat them “decisively.” The results show voters ignored the appeal.
The NCP (SP) candidates who defeated their NCP rivals included Jitendra Awhad, who won against Najeeb Mulla in Mumbra Kalwa.
Bapusaheb Pathare defeated Sunil Tingre in Vadgaon Sheri.
Sandeep Kshirsagar defeated Yogesh Kshirsagar in Beed.
Abhijit Patil won in Madha, leaving Minal Sathe of the NCP in the third position.
Raju Khare defeated Yashwant Mane in Mohol, while state NCP (SP) chief Jayant Patil defeated Nishikant Patil in Islampur.
Rohit Patil defeated Sanjay Kaka Patil in Tasgaon Kavathe-Mahankal.
