BJP-led Mahayuti bags 16 of 17 seats

Amid cross-voting from both ruling and Opposition ranks, the BJP-led Mahayuti on Monday swept 16 of the 17 Maharashtra Legislative Council seats from local authorities’ constituencies, even as Nashik delivered a surprise defeat to the governing bloc.

The BJP won 11 seats and its allies, Shiv Sena, three and the NCP two. Independent and BJP rebel Gokul Gite, a relative of a local party leader, clinched the Nashik seat.

The biennial elections were originally notified for 17 seats, including one bypoll, but voting was necessitated in only 11 constituencies as candidates of the Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, secured unopposed victories in six seats.

Voting in the 11 constituencies, where elected members of local self-governing bodies formed the electoral college, was held on June 18 and counting took place on June 22.

The Opposition MahaVikas Aghadi, comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), failed to win a single seat.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis termed the poll outcome a “resounding victory” and a decisive mandate in favour of the Mahayuti.

Fadnavis, who belongs to the BJP, asserted the victory came under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and guidance of senior party leaders.

“The BJP-Mahayuti has won the Legislative Council elections in Maharashtra. I congratulate all the winning candidates,” he said.

The results were marked by cross-voting across constituencies, including from Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) ranks in favour of BJP and Shiv Sena candidates.

In Nagpur, BJP nominee Rajiv Potdar registered a record win as Congress candidate Atul Londhe failed to retain even his party's votes, with around 40 Congress votes reportedly defecting. The Nagpur local authorities constituency saw a bypoll, which was necessitated after senior BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule vacated the seat following his election to the Assembly.

Potdar will have a two-year tenure as the seat was held by Bawankule for four years.

Congress leader Vikas Thakre expressed strong displeasure over the Nagpur bypoll result, saying, "What has happened is not good. Votes should not have been split. Those responsible must explain what happened and action should be taken against those who indulged in betrayal."

He added that the Congress would identify those responsible for cross-voting and hold discussions with observers, pointing to lapses in Nagpur Rural where the responsibility lay with appointed party functionaries.

In Sangli-Satara, BJP nominee Dhairyashil Kadam defeated NCP (SP) candidate Abhaysinh Jagtap by 593 votes to 292, though over 100 votes were said to have cross-voted, indicating discontent within both alliances. The contest saw intense mobilisation by senior BJP leaders, including Udayanraje Bhosale and Shivendraraje Bhosale.

The Nashik result stood out as the only setback for the ruling alliance, where Shiv Sena candidate Narendra Darade lost to Independent Gite.

Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena, had campaigned in the constituency along with several elected representatives.

Reacting to the outcome, Darade acknowledged the upset, saying the result reflected unexpected voting patterns and he alleged betrayal by his own party colleagues and associates.

Earlier, a visibly upset Darade left the counting centre in a huff after it became clear that a majority of local representatives had voted in favour of Gite and not the Shiv Sena.

Shiv Sena MLC Manisha Kayande expressed reservations over the outcome in Nashik, saying, "There is a serious doubt about the result as we were assured that our candidate would be supported."

There was some tension at the counting centre as Gite reached the venue and took strong objection to the presence of Darade's brother and Nashik Teachers' constituency sitting MLC Kishore Darade.

The Nashik constituency had witnessed controversy since Gite announced his candidature against Darade as an independent.

Six candidates were elected unopposed to the Upper House of the State legislature — Shiv Sena's Ravindra Phatak and Dushyant Chaturvedi, NCP's Aniket Tatkare and Vikram Kakade, and BJP's Arun Lakhani and Prajakt Tanpure.

Other winners included BJP's Suhas Shirsat (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna), Avinash Brahmankar (Bhandara-Gondia), Rajendra Raut (Solapur), Basavaraj Patil (Dharashiv-Latur-Beed), Nandkishor Mahajan (Jalgaon), Pravin Pote (Amravati) and Amar Rajurkar (Nanded), along with Shiv Sena's Saeed Khan (Parbhani-Hingoli).

Data from constituencies indicated cross-voting played a decisive role. In Nagpur, despite Congress and allied strength, the BJP secured 501 votes, pointing to defections. Similar patterns were visible in Sangli-Satara and Nashik, where vote shares of rival parties did not translate into expected outcomes.

The elections follow a preferential voting system, where candidates must secure more than 50 per cent of valid votes plus one to win, with second-preference votes counted if required.

The Opposition MVA alleged the ruling alliance used money and muscle power to force the withdrawal of rival candidates.

Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal alleged the Mahayuti alliance resorted to "saam, daam, dand, bhed" and misused its power and resources to secure victory in the elections, claiming the outcome reflected a "might is right" approach.

He said the ruling alliance displayed an "arrogance of power" and undermined democratic norms.

"The results are an example of 'jiski lathi, uski bhains' (might is right). What was witnessed was not democracy, but authoritarianism. The BJP is moving towards 'One Nation, One Party' by first weakening Opposition parties and later its allies," he said in a statement.

Sapkal said elections in recent years had not been conducted in a free and fair atmosphere and claimed the ruling alliance was winning polls through the misuse of power.

He further claimed Opposition candidates were pressured to withdraw from the contest and accused the administration and the Election Commission of aiding the ruling dispensation.

Sapkal said money, power and inducements played a role in the elections and claimed each voter was offered Rs 5 lakh and other incentives.

He asserted the Congress would continue its fight to safeguard democracy and the Constitution.

Referring to the Nagpur contest, Sapkal said Congress candidate Londhe entered the fray as part of an ideological battle despite the party's lack of numerical strength.

A committee of senior party leaders would soon review the reasons behind the party's defeat, he added.