Pankaja Munde’s victory is a significant boost for the BJP, especially following her recent loss in the Beed Lok Sabha seat, which had led to a reported series of suicides among her supporters.Today, Munde’s supporters celebrated their leader’s success with great enthusiasm.
After winning the polls, Pankaja Munde is the daughter of late senior leader Gopinath Munde, said, “I have won the MLC election. This has filled josh in our party workers. I am very happy. We think of this as preparations for Assembly elections.”
In the results announced on Friday evening, the BJP won five seats, while the chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP each secured two seats. The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) saw victories for Milind Narvekar, a close aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, and Congress candidate Pradnya Satav. However, Peasants and Workers’ Party (PWP) candidate Jayant Patil, supported by Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), lost the election.
Deputy CM Ajit Pawar thanked the five MLAs who supported the Mahayuti alliance and said they should repeat such a performance in the Vidhan Sabha elections as well.
The biennial election was held as 11 members of the legislative council (MLCs) are set to complete their six-year term on July 27. The 288-member legislative assembly served as the electoral college for the polls, with a current strength of 274. Each winning candidate needed a quota of 23 first-preference votes.
The BJP, the largest party in the assembly with 103 members, fielded five candidates: Pankaja Munde, Yogesh Tilekar, Parinay Phuke, Amit Gorkhe, and Sadabhau Khot. Its ally Shiv Sena nominated former Lok Sabha MPs Krupal Tumane and Bhavana Gawali. The NCP fielded Shivajirao Garje and Rajesh Vitekar.
The Congress nominated Pradnya Satav for another term, while Sena (UBT) put forward Milind Narvekar. The third MVA constituent, NCP (SP), did not field its nominee and instead supported PWP’s Jayant Patil.