Maharashtra: Mixed bag for BJP-Sena and Congress-NCP in Vidarbha's 5 districts

Nagpur: Against all odds, the Congress-NCP alliance managed to dent the BJP prospects in many Vidarbha constituencies. While BJP-Sena managed to retain some seats, it lost many to opposition and independent candidates.

In Akola district, saffron combine has not only managed to retain its bastion by winning all four seats, but also won from Balapur.

In 2014, Baliram Siraskar from Prakash Ambedkar-led BBM (now Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi) had clinched this seat. This time, the VBA, which has strong presence in Akola, was second in four constituencies, relegating Congress-NCP to third position. The BJP managed to retain Akola East (Randhir Savarkar), Akola West (Govardhan Sharma) and Akot (Prakash Bharsakale). Recoutning of votes was on in Murtijapur till going to the press.

In Buldhana, though the BJP-Sena managed to retain its tally of five out of seven seats, it lost in Sindkhed Raja, where former minister and four-time MLA Rajendra Shingane managed to upset sitting Sena MLA Shashikant Khedekar. In Malkapur, Congress’s Rakesh Ekade caused a major upset by crushing five-time BJP MLA Chainsukh Sancheti.

On the other hand, the saffron alliance managed to win Buldhana seat where Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad defeated VBA’s Vijay Shinde while sitting Congress MLA Harshwardhan Sapkal was third. In Chikhli, BJP’s Shweta Mahale trounced two-time Congress MLA Rahul Bondre. The party managed to retain its seats in Khamgaon (Akash Fundkar), Jalgaon-Jamod (Sanjay Kute) and Mehkar (Sanjay Raimulkar).

In Gondia, the saffron alliance has lost two seats to Congress-NCP and one to independent. Vinod Agrawal, who fought on BJP ticket in 2014 polls, fought as a rebel after BJP denied him ticket. He caused a major upset by crushing three-time MLA Gopaldas Agrawal, who switched to BJP this year from Congress. In Amgaon, Congress Sahasram Korote defeated sitting BJP MLA Sanjay Puram while in Arjuni Morgaon, former BJP minister Rajkumar Badole narrowly lost to NCP’s Manohar Chandrikapure. BJP managed to retain it Tirora seat where Vijay Rahangdale won.

The saffron combine suffered a massive jolt in Bhandara district where it lost all three seats, two to independents. In Bhandara, Sena rebel Narendra Bhondekar crushed BJP’s Arvind Bhaldare while in Tumsar, NCP’s Raju Karemore defeated sitting BJP MLA Charan Waghmare. Congress Nana Patole managed to win the high-profile contest by defeating minister of state Parinay Fuke.

In Washim district, the BJP managed to retain Washim (Lakhan Malik) and Karnaja (Rajendra Patni) while Congress was leading in Risod (Amit Zanak) till filing of the report.