Ajit Pawar (Left) and his nephew Yugendra Pawar (Right).
Credit: PTI Photo and X/@yugendraspeaks
Mumbai: The Maharashtra assembly contest saw intense rivalries among several political families including the Sharad Pawar clan in the Baramati constituency.
NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar trounced his nephew and debutant politician Yugendra Pawar by over 1 lakh votes, winning the eighth term from the bastion.
The resounding victory marks Ajit Pawar settling political scores with his uncle Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule in the first assembly contest after the NCP split in July 2023.
Six months back, Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar was defeated by Sule in the Lok Sabha elections from Baramati.
Another dramatic family contest played out in the Kannad constituency in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district of the Marathwada region, where Sanjana Danve, daughter of ex-Union minister and BJP leader Raosaheb Danve, successfully contested her debut election on the Shiv Sena ticket.
Sanjana faced a personal and political challenge from her estranged husband, Harshvardhan Jadhav who contested as an Independent. Despite the complicated circumstances, she emerged victorious, marking a successful debut in the political arena.
Sanjana polled 84,492 votes, defeating Harashvardhan by a margin of 18,201 votes. Her victory added to the growing presence of Shiv Sena in the region, with her brother Santosh Raosaheb Danve, the incumbent BJP MLA, holding on to his Bhokardan seat in Jalna district.
In Gadchiroli's Aheri constituency, state minister Dharamraobaba Atram of Ajit Pawar-led NCP faced an unexpected challenge from his daughter, Bhagyashree Atram, who stood as a candidate for NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).
Despite the personal rivalry, Dharamraobaba proved his political dominance, winning the seat by a wide margin, while Bhagyashree finished in third place. The result underscored the seasoned politician's continued grip on the constituency, as he outpaced his daughter in the contest.
Similarly, in the Loha assembly constituency, located in Nanded district, former BJP Lok Sabha member Pratap Patil Chikhalikar contested as an NCP candidate.
Chikhlikar defeated his sister Ashabai Shinde, who ran on a ticket from the Peasants and Workers Party.
Maharashtra Assembly poll 2024 results| Check constituency results here
Jharkhand Assembly poll 2024 results| Check constituency results here
Bypoll 2024 results | Check Karnataka results here
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls took place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP went up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress tried to make their mark. Maha Yuti are currently comfortably poised to win. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faced a challenge after Hemant Soren's arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP, but look set to retain power with its I.N.D.I.A. allies. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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