Kolhapur: It was a sweet success for Mahayuti in the sugarcane belt of western Maharashtra, making a clean sweep of Satara and Kolhapur districts.
In 37 assembly segments of Solapur, Sangli, Satara and Kolhapur, ruling Mahayuti bagged 17 seats, while MVA managed just nine. Satara was considered a Sharad Pawar bastion, but in a sign of changing times, BJP made big gains with the help of Ajit Pawar-led NCP, snatching Karad (north) and Phaltan from NCP(SP). Even former CM Prithviraj Chavan was beaten in Karad (south).
In Sangli, BJP defeated two sitting MLAs of Mahavikas Aghadi — Shirala’s NCP(SP) candidate Mansing Naik lost to BJP’s Satyajeet Deshmukh, and Congress’s Vikram Sawant was beaten by Gopichand Padalkar. Minister Suresh Khade of BJP retained his Miraj seat.
NCP(SP) state president Jayant Patil held on to Islampur, while party colleague Rohit Patil made his debut win from Tasgaon Kavathe Mahankal. Congress’s only victory came in Palus Kadegaon where Vishwajeet Kadam won. MVA’s victory margins dropped in all these seats in comparison to 2019.
In Kolhapur, there was a near sweep by Mahayuti. Routed here in 2019, BJP bounced back with two wins — Kolhapur South and Ichalkaranji. Jansurajya Shakti Party, led by Vinay Kore, also won two — Shahuwadi and Hatkanangle. Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, also made big gains, retaining Radhanagari, where Prakash Abitkar won, and snatching two from Congress — Kolhapur North and Karvir.
In Solapur, BJP won five seats, but with the help of Vijaysinha Mohite Patil. Sharad Pawar’s NCP(SP) won four seats — Karmala, Madha, Mohol and Malshiras. Shiv Sena (UBT) veteran Dilip Sopal of registered a win from Barshi.