Maharashtra: BJP, Sena fare badly in Kolhapur in assembly polls

While State BJP chief Chandrakant Patil won the assembly election from Kothrud constituency in Pune, in Kolhapur, his home district, the BJP-Shiv Sena suffered a major setback. The western Maharashtra district had been devastated by floods in August this year.

While the BJP lost both the seats it had won in 2014, Shiv Sena suffered bigger jolt as out of the six seats it had won in the last assembly elections, it lost five. Of the 10 assembly seats in Kolhapur, Congress won four, independents two, NCP two and Shiv Sena and Jansurajya Paty one seat each.

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In Ichalkaranji, Prakash Awade, an independent, defeated sitting BJP MLA Suresh Halwankar by 49,810 votes. In Hatkanangale, Raju Awale of Congress defeated sitting MLA Sujit Minachekar of Shiv Sena by 6,770 votes. Independent candidate Rajendra Shamgonda Patil defeated sitting MLA Ulhas Sambhaji Patil of Shiv Sena in Shirol by 27,824 votes. 

In Kolhapur North, Chandrakant Pandit Jadhav of Congress defeated sitting MLA Rajesh Kshirsagar of Shiv Sena by 15,199 votes. In Kolhapur South, Congress's Ruturaj Sanjay Patil defeated Amal Mahadik of BJP by 42,709 votes.

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In Karvir, sitting Shiv Sena MLA Chandradeep Narake had to face defeat at the hands of Congress's P N Patil by 22,661 votes. Dr Vinay Kore of Jan Surajya Shakti party defeated sitting Shiv Sena MLA Satyajit Babasaheb Patil by 27,863 votes in Shahuwadi.

In Radhanagari, Prakash Abitkar of Shiv Sena retained his seat by defeating K P Patil of NCP by 18,430 votes. This is the only seat Shiv Sena retained in the district. In Kagal, NCP's Hasan Mushrif retained the seat and defeated Samarjeetsinh Ghatge, an independent candidate by 28,133 votes. In Chandgad, NCP's Rajesh Patil defeated Shivaji Patil, a BJP rebel, by 3,991 votes.

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BJP-SS crosses halfway mark 

The total strength of the Maharashtra Assembly is 288, out of which nine seats are reserved for SC and five for the ST category. 1.8 lakh ballot units, 1.28 lakh control units, and 1.39 lakh VVPATs were used in the election. According to the last updated voting turnout figures, Maharashtra registered a voting percentage of 60.83%, which was a drop from the 2014 Assembly election turnout. The Election Commission of India (ECI) trends indicate that BJP combined with its alliance partner Shiv Sena has crossed the halfway mark and is set to form the government. As per the Election Commission, the BJP has won 105 seats. Shiv Sena has won 56. While AIMIM has won 2 seats, MNS won 1 seat. 

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