Voters reject turncoats in western Maharashtra

Pune: Many candidates in western Maharashtra who had switched over from other parties ahead of the assembly elections suffered defeats, in what could be a public message against political opportunism.

Former state minister Harshvardhan Patil, who recently joined Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP), lost in Indapur to sitting Congress MLA Dattatray Bharne fielded by Ajit Pawar-led NCP by a margin of 19,410 votes.

Bharne polled 1,17,236 votes compared to 97,826 votes by Patil.

Notably, Patil had left the Congress before the 2019 state elections to join the BJP but was similarly defeated by Bharne, who was then with the undivided NCP.

In Kolhapur’s Kagal constituency, Samarjeet Ghatge, another turncoat, was trounced by NCP minister Hasan Mushrif by 11,581 votes. Ghatge had moved from the BJP to NCP (SP) before the elections.

Meanwhile, in Tasgaon of Sangli district, former BJP MP Sanjaykaka Patil, who joined NCP to contest the polls, was defeated by Rohit Patil by 27,644 votes.

Rohit Patil, son of former home minister R R Patil, polled 1,28,403 votes, while Sanjaykaka Patil secured 1,00,759 votes.