NCP-SP leader Harshvardhan Patil files his nomination from the Indapur Assembly segment in Indapur on October 24, 2024. Mr. Patil moved from the BJP to NCP -SP ahead of the elections.
| Photo Credit: ANI
As results trickle in for the election to the 288-seat Maharashtra Assembly, the Mahayuti alliance is positioned for a clean sweep across Maharashtra. BJP is set to win the largest number of seats in the State, while alliance partners Shiv Sena and NCP have fared better than their counterpart factions, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and NCP (Sharad Pawar), which are part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. The Congress, which is also part of MVA, looks set to win only in 15 seats.
In the lead-up to the elections, there were many instances of individuals jumping ship from one party to another; yet others contested as independents after failing to get a party ticket. We take a look at the fate of some of these turncoats in the Assembly elections.
Maharashtra election results 2024 LIVE updates: November 23
How have turncoats fared?
Mahayuti to MVA
Raju Shinde, who switched from BJP to Shiv Sena (UBT) right before the polls, was fielded from Aurangabad West. He is currently trailing behind Shiv Sena’s Pandurang Shirsat by more than 16,000 votes. Dinesh Pardeshi, another BJP to Shiv Sena (UBT) turncoat, is trailing behind Shiv Sena’s Ramesh Nanasaheb Bornare in Vaijpur, by a margin of more than 41,000 votes. Former Maharashtra Minister Harshvardhan Patil, who jumped ship from BJP to NCP (SP), is presently trailing behind NCP’s Dattatraya Vithoba Bharne in Indapur, by a vote margin of around 19,000.
Suresh Bankar, who switched from BJP to Shiv Sena (UBT) is trailiing behind Shiv Sena’s Abdul Sattar in Sillod by a narrow 2,949 vote margin.
MVA to Mahayuti
Jitesh Antapurkar jumped ship from Congress to BJP ahead of the polls. He is currently leading in Deglur, ahead of Congress’ Nivrutti Kondiba Kamble Sangvikar by around 42,000 votes.
Archana Patil- Chakurkar, daughter in law of Shivraj Patil, jumped from Congress to BJP, and was fielded from Latur City. She is in a close fight with Amit Vilasrao Deshmukh, currently trailing by around 3000 votes.
Intra-coalition defection
Rajendra Gavit, who moved from Shiv Sena to BJP and then later jumped back to the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena right before the polls, has won from Palghar. He defeated Shiv Sena UBT’s Jayendra Kisan Dubla by a margin of 40,337.
His candidature resulted in the sidelining of Shrinivas Vanga, son of the late BJP MP Chintamani Vanga, who had also joined the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena.
Published – November 23, 2024 06:55 pm IST