How Beed, Shirdi and Ahmednagar voted in the fourth phase

Former minister and daughter of late BJP stalwart Gopinath Munde, Pankaja is pitted against NCP (SP)’s Bajrang Sonawane for the Beed Lok Sabha seat. The BJP has replaced Pritam Munde and fielded Pankaja for the seat, which has traditionally been been with the Munde family for the last many terms.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Pritam Munde, representing the BJP, had secured a total of 6,78,175 votes, while Bajrang Manohar Sonwane of the NCP, second in line, had 5,09,807 votes. Sonwane lost by a margin of 1,68,368 votes.

After her loss in the Vidhan Sabha elections that year, Pankaja was almost in political wilderness but the party had rehabilitated her in some ways. While Beed has been a stronghold of BJP, the Maratha reservation and the social rift between OBC and Maratha leadership has cast its shadow on the seat. The Munde family is from the Vanjari OBC community, who have traditionally been sugarcane harvesters.

BJP has an edge in Beed and hopes to win the seat based on the goodwill and hold of the Mundes in the area. Much to their advantage NCP (Ajit Pawar) leader Dhanajay Munde, who had defeated Pankaja, is now part of the ruling alliance and would thus help the BJP. Sonawane and his team hoped to wrestle the seat based on the OBC Maratha rift as well as the general agrarian distress Beed has faced. The drought-prone Beed witnesses annual migration with very few job opportunities. The fight in Beed is mostly between economics and emotions.

Shirdi

Starting with a low pace of 6.5 per cent voter turnout till 9am, Shirdi Lok Sabha Constituency of Ahmednagar district recorded 55.27 per cent voting till 5 pm during the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha Election on May 13.

Shirdi is an important constituency in Maharashtra that includes six assembly constituencies in the district — Akole, Sangamner, Shirdi, Kopargaon, Shrirampur and Nevasa.

By 9 am, voting percentages by the Election Commission had been recorded as 6.5 per cent in Akole, 10.87 per cent in Sangamner, 5.85 per cent in Shirdi, 5.11 per cent in Kopargaon, 5.17 per cent in Shrirampur, and 5.04 per cent in Nevasa.

By 5 pm, the voter turnout across all assemblies under Shirdi was nearly uniform, with Nevasa at 56.09 per cent, Kopargaon at 52.92 per cent, Akole at 53.90 per cent, Sangamner at 57.79 per cent, Shirdi at 56.72 per cent and Srirampur at 54.18 per cent.

With a total of 16,77,000 electors and 1,708 poll booths, this constituency is reserved for Scheduled Castes, featuring a contest between the incumbent Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena MP, Sadashiv Kisan Lokhande, and Bhausaheb Wakchaure of Shiv Sena (UBT).

During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Shirdi witnessed a highly competitive contest, with a total of 15,57,079 electors and a valid vote count of 1,029,362. The constituency recorded a 64.54 per cent voter turnout that year.

That same year, Sadashiv Lokhande of Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) emerged victorious with a margin of 1,20,195 votes, securing 4,86,820 votes. Lokhande defeated Kamble Bhausaheb Malhari of the INC, who received 3,66,625 votes in 2019.

Following the split in Shiv Sena, Lokhande sided with Eknath Shinde after leaving Uddhav Thackeray. Having been elected as the Shiv Sena (undivided) nominee in the 2014 and 2019 elections, Lokhande is now seeking his third term.

Wakchaure in 2019 contested from Shirdi as an independent candidate and in August 2023, after the Shiv Sena split, he joined the UBT faction of the party. However, the election has become more intriguing with the entry of former Congress leader Utkarsha Rupwate into the race representing the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA).

Ahmednagar

A clash between the supporters of Mahayuti candidate Dr Sujay Vikhe Patil and Nilesh Lanke of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Sunday night kept the police and administration on toes in Ahmednagar Lok Sabha constituency on the day of voting.

Ahmednagar district collector Siddharam Salimath said there was about 61 percent voter turnout in the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha constituency on Monday. The turnout in 2019 was 64.79 per cent.

NCP (SP) has fielded MLA Nilesh Lanke against BJP’s Sujay Vikhe Patil, who is also the sitting member of parliament from this constituency.

Lanke’s supporters alleged that BJP’s Parner taluka chief Rahul Shinde was distributing money near a petrol pump in Wadzire village on Sunday night. A video of the alleged incident went viral on social media. Allegations were also made that Shinde and his men thrashed the persons who intercepted his vehicle at the spot. However, Shinde alleged his vehicle was damaged by Lanke’s supporters. Following the clash, both sides lodged complaints against each other at the Parner police station in Ahmednagar.

In the wake of this incident, the Ahmednagar police kept a close watch across the constituency to prevent any law and order situation as people came out to vote on Monday.

Barring a few incidents, the situation in Ahmednagar remained peaceful, police said. Officials said, in the six assembly constituencies, 54.48 percent voting was reported in Shevgaon, 55.54 percent in Rahuri, 54.50 percent in Ahmednagar city, 51.24 in Shrigonda, 53.34 in Karjat – Jamkhed and 46.66 percent in Parner, by 5 pm.

While the voting was in Ahmednagar city, Lanke and his workers claimed that ink was being applied to a person who did vote at a polling booth. Some citizens complained that their names were missing and deleted from the voters list.

Farmers Somnath Godse, Hussain Shaikh and Sandip Kundar reached polling booths by wearing garlands and holding milk cans, as a mark of protest against the falling onion and milk prices.