On a June day in Maharashtra, the Legislative Council elections settled into a near-total victory for the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, which took 16 of the 17 seats in play while its rivals walked away empty-handed. The one crack in that picture came in Nashik, where a rebel running without a party banner unseated the ruling coalition's chosen candidate, a reminder that even a dominant order carries local grievances beneath its surface. Whether that small rupture stays a local episode or spreads into the ranks of Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena is the question that now hangs over the result.
BJP-Led Mahayuti Wins 16 of 17 Maharashtra MLC Seats; Rebel Gokul Gite Upsets Shinde's Sena in Nashik
Gite needed 303 votes in Nashik. He got 357.
Mark
Sixteen of seventeen sounds total. Is it as lopsided as it looks?
Mimi
Partly. Six seats were unopposed, so no vote was cast there. The contested picture is eleven seats, with the BJP winning ten, Shiv Sena three and the NCP two, by the reported breakdown.
Mark
So why is everyone talking about Nashik?
Mimi
Because the winner was a BJP rebel running as an independent. He got 357 votes against 248 for Shiv Sena's official candidate, Narendra Darade, who had the alliance behind him.
Luke
Worth noting the reasons given are soft. Reports say local discontent and apparent cross-voting. Nothing in the reporting identifies who actually crossed over.
Mark
And the opposition got nothing at all?
Mimi
Nothing. Congress's Amaravati candidate, Harshjit Deshmukh, got zero votes. That detail stands out even in a bad night.
Luke
Zero votes is striking, but the source doesn't explain it. I wouldn't read a cause into it.
Mark
Does Gite's win say something about Shinde's Sena?
Mimi
Observers call it a blow to Shinde's party. Whether it's one district's quarrel or something wider is the open question.
Luke
Right, and the giant slayer label is political-circle talk, not a measured finding. One seat can't confirm a trend.
O Pulso
- Mahayuti swept 16 of 17 Maharashtra Council seats while Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Sharad Pawar NCP faction were shut out entirely.
- Six seats were decided without a contest, leaving the real battle over eleven seats in which the BJP claimed ten.
- In Nashik, rebel Gokul Gite beat Shinde's official candidate 357 to 248, turning a presumed favorite into a fallen one.
- Cross-voting and local anger in Nashik now raise the question of whether Shinde's Shiv Sena can hold its own ranks together.
- Congress's Amaravati candidate received not a single vote, a stark measure of how far the opposition has fallen in this round.
On a June day in Maharashtra, the Legislative Council elections settled into a near-total victory for the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, which took 16 of the 17 seats in play while its rivals walked away empty-handed. The one crack in that picture came in Nashik, where a rebel running without a party banner unseated the ruling coalition's chosen candidate, a reminder that even a dominant order carries local grievances beneath its surface. Whether that small rupture stays a local episode or spreads into the ranks of Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena is the question that now hangs over the result.
In Nashik, a BJP rebel running as an independent gathered 357 votes out of an electorate of 618, enough to clear the threshold in the first round and defeat the official candidate of the ruling alliance. Gokul Gite's win over Shiv Sena's Narendra Darade was the single result that broke the pattern across Maharashtra's Legislative Council elections.
Elsewhere the story belonged to the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition, which won 16 of 17 seats while Congress, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar's NCP faction came away with nothing. Six seats were settled without a vote, and the BJP took ten of the eleven contested seats that remained, with Shiv Sena and the NCP splitting the rest.
The opposition's night was bleak. In Amaravati, Congress's Harshjit Deshmukh received not a single vote, and in Sangli-Satara the margin of 301 votes over the Pawar faction's candidate was the closest contest reported.
The result confirms the BJP's hold on Maharashtra politics, with Nashik as the one local exception. What remains to be seen is whether the discontent and cross-voting that carried Gite to victory stay contained or become a strain inside Shinde's Shiv Sena.
In Nashik, a BJP rebel running as an independent collected 357 votes from an electorate of 618, enough to clear the winning mark in the first round and beat the official candidate of the ruling alliance. Gokul Gite's victory over Shiv Sena's Narendra Darade was the one result that broke the pattern in the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections.
Everywhere else, the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition won. It took 16 of the 17 seats, and Congress, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar's faction of the NCP won none. Six of the seats were settled before any vote, because no contest took place. The real fight was over the remaining eleven.
Of those eleven, the BJP won ten, Shiv Sena three and the NCP two, according to the reported breakdown. The unopposed winners included Arun Lakhani in Wardha-Gadchiroli-Chandrapur and Prajakt Tanpure in Ahilyanagar.
In Nashik, 13 of the 618 votes were invalid, which set the threshold at 303. Gite polled 357 to Darade's 248. A third contender, Prasad Hire, received no votes. Darade had the full backing of the Mahayuti alliance, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and many had seen him as the favorite. Observers read the result as a blow to Shinde's Shiv Sena. The reports point to local discontent and apparent cross-voting as the reasons Gite drew support from across party lines, and political circles have started calling him a giant slayer.
Elsewhere the BJP won across the board. Amar Rajurkar took Nanded. Dr. Rajiv Potdar won Nagpur by a large margin. Pravin Pote Patil was re-elected in Amaravati for a third straight term, and Rajendra Raut won Solapur. The party also took Dharashiv-Latur-Beed through Basavaraj Patil, Jalgaon through Nandkishore Mahajan, Bhandara-Gondia through Avinash Brahmankar, Sangli-Satara through Dhairyashil Kadam, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna through Suhas Shirsat.
The opposition's night was bleak. In Amaravati, Congress candidate Harshjit Deshmukh received not a single vote. In Sangli-Satara, Kadam beat the Sharad Pawar faction's Abhaysinh Jagtap by 301 votes, the closest of the reported contests.
The result reinforces the BJP's hold on Maharashtra politics, with one local exception. Whether the discontent and cross-voting behind Gite's win stay confined to Nashik or become a strain inside Shinde's Shiv Sena is the thing to watch next.
Citações Notáveis
Political circles are calling Gokul Gite a 'giant slayer' after his Nashik win.— Political observers, as reported by NewsX
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