NEW DELHI:Minister of Higher and Technical Education of Maharashtra, Chandrakant Patil won the Kothrud constituency with 1,59,234 votes, maintaining a commanding lead of over 1,12,041 votes against Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) candidate Chandrakant Mokate.
Patil’s victory was widely anticipated, especially after former corporator Amol Balwadkar withdrew his candidacy and pledged full support to him.
Kothrud, a traditional stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has long been considered a safe seat for the party. Patil, originally from Kolhapur, first contested from Kothrud in 2019 and secured a win. His dominance this time was further solidified by the lack of strong competition and robust party backing.
Located in the Pune district, Kothrud falls under the Pune Lok Sabha seat and holds significant political importance in Maharashtra. The constituency had 4.31 lakh registered voters, with a turnout of 52.18%. Despite moderate voter participation, Patil’s resounding lead underscores the BJP’s continued influence in the region.
The counting of votes for the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 started at 8 A.M on Nov 23, with initial trends showing the ruling Mahayuti alliance heading towards a significant victory in 231 constituencies. Meanwhile, most stalwarts of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) from Western Maharashtra are trailing, with the alliance leading in just 52 constituencies.
Both grandsons of NCP (Sharad faction) chief Sharad Pawar, Rohit Pawar and Yugendra Pawar, are trailing in Karjat-Jamkhed and Baramati, respectively. NCP (Sharad faction) candidate Devdutt Nikam is also lagging, trailing Ajit Pawar’s NCP candidate Dilip Walse Patil. This suggests that Sharad Pawar’s efforts to appeal to voters and defeat the opposition have largely fallen short.
In the 2019 elections also, Chandrakant Bachhu Patil of the BJP defeated Adv. Kishor Nana Shinde of the MNS by a significant margin of 25,495 votes, further solidifying the BJP’s hold over the constituency.