MVA makes mark in western Maharashtra; bags 5 of 10 seats; BJP and allies get 4

Pune: The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has demonstrated its political supremacy in western Maharashtra, winning five of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the region, while the ruling BJP and its allies got four seats.

One seat has been bagged by an independent, as per the Lok Sabha poll results announced on Tuesday.

The contest in the high-profile Baramati seat was keenly watched as NCP (SP) Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule defeated her sister-in-law and NCP candidate Sunetra Pawar, the wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

Sule won from the constituency for the fourth time.

Out of the total 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, western Maharashtra comprises 10 - Kolhapur, Hatkanangale, Sangli, Satara, Pune, Baramati, Shirur, Maval, Madha and Solapur.

The MVA comprises the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) headed by Uddhav Thackeray and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).

The constituents of the ruling Mahayuti in the state include the BJP, Shiv Sena headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar.

In Kolhapur, Congress candidate Shahu Maharaj Chhatrapati defeated Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Mandlik by 1,54,964 votes.

Shahu Chhatrapati, a descendant of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and head of the Kolhapur royal family, garnered 7,54,522 votes, while Mandlik received 599,588.

During the poll campaign, Mandlik stoked a controversy by claiming Shahu Chhatrapati was not the "real heir" of the Kolhapur?? royal family and that he was adopted.

The neighbouring Hatkanangale seat was retained by the Shiv Sena and its sitting MP Dhairyasheel Mane defeated Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Satyajeet Patil by 13,426 votes.

Mane polled 5,20,190 votes, while Patil received 5,06,764 votes, as per the EC website.

Farmer leader and Swabhimani Paksha president Raju Shetti stood at the third place with 1,79,850 votes.

In Sangli, Congress rebel and independent candidate Vishal Patil sprang a surprise as he defeated BJP MP Sanjay (Kaka) Patil by more than 1 lakh votes.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) had initially announced wrestler Chandrahar Patil as its candidate from the seat, leading to a discord within the local Congress unit.

Snubbed by the decision, Vishal Patil decided to contest as an independent, receiving support from local Congress leaders.

Vishal Patil polled 571,666 votes, Sanjay Patil got 471,613 votes, with Chandrahar Patil stood at the third place with 60,860 votes.

In Satara, BJP candidate Udayanraje Bhonsle, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, defeated NCP (SP) nominee Shashikant Shinde by 32,771 votes after a close contest.

Bhonsle won the seat on the NCP's ticket in the 2019 elections and later joined the BJP, but lost the subsequent by-election to NCP's Shrinivas Patil.

This time, Bhonsle polled 5,71,134 votes, while Shinde received 5,38,363 votes. Despite being an NCP seat, the BJP managed to secure it during the seat-sharing arrangement with NCP led by Ajit Pawar.

In Pune district, the BJP and Shiv Sena retained their respective Pune and Maval seats, while the NCP (SP) won in its strongholds Baramati and Shirur.

In Baramati, overcoming the challenge posed by political debutante Sunetra Pawar, Supriya Sule retained the seat with a victory margin of more than 1.55 lakh votes.

Sule polled 7,32,312 votes, while Sunetra Pawar garnered 5,73,979 votes.

In Pune, the BJP won for the third time as its candidate Murlidhar Mohol defeated Congress' Ravindra Dhangekar by more than 1.23 lakh votes.

In Maval, Shiv Sena MP Shrirang Barne made a hat-trick as he defeated Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Sanjog Waghere Patil.

In Shirur, NCP (SP) MP Amol Kolhe retained his seat by defeating NCP's Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil.

The Shirur constituency saw heightened interest as Ajit Pawar made hectic efforts to garner support for? his candidate.

Adhalrao Patil, formerly with the Shiv Sena, joined the NCP as Shirur was allocated to Ajit Pawar in the Mahayuti seat-sharing deal.

In Solapur, Congress candidate Praniti Shinde, the daughter of former state CM Sushilkumar Shinde, defeated BJP's Ram Satpute by more than 74,000 votes.

In the neighboring Madha constituency, NCP (SP) candidate Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil defeated BJP's Ranjitsingh Naik Nimbalkar by more than 120,000 votes.

Besides these western region seats, NCP (SP) candidate from Ahmednagar, Nilesh Lanke, defeated BJP's incumbent Sujay Vikhe Patil by 28,929 votes.

Lanke polled 6,24,797 votes while Vikhe Patil received 5,95,868 votes. PTI SPK GK