In Beed, Pankaja Munde loses a close contest, Praniti Shinde provides balm to family, Congress

Much like the contests in Mumbai and Satara, Beed drew the attention of all of Maharashtra as the fortunes of the two candidates remained in the hunt at the end of every round. Till the 32nd round, no one was sure who would win.

Munde, who herself came to the counting centre in Beed in the afternoon, predicted that a defeat or a victory would be by a small margin. In the end, her prediction was right. ”Whatever the result, I will work with renewed vigour,” she told reporters. Her cousin and Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde had led her campaign.

As per BJP sources, what pegged Munde on the backfoot was the Maratha reservation factor. ”Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil had told community members that those from BJP who had tried to scuttle his agitation and deny Marathas their quota should be taught a lesson,” said a BJP leader. Beed was one of the districts which had witnessed violence during the Maratha agitation last year.

Munde, BJP’s national secretary, had replaced her sister Pritam Munde in the Beed seat. She had been in somewhat of a political wilderness since her defeat in 2019 Assembly elections and was looking for political rehabilitation with a victory in Beed.

NCP (SP) spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said, ”Bajrang Sonawane was picked by our party chief Sharad Pawar to contest from Beed. He was actually part of the leaders who had walked away with Ajit Pawar when he joined hands with BJP. We knew Sonawane would put up a tough fight, but winning against a top leader like Pankaja Munde is indeed laudable.”

During the campaign, Ajit Pawar had addressed a rally for Munde where he debunked Sonawane, a sugar baron. ”Just a few days ago, he was with me, seeking my help for his sugar factory. I don’t know what has gone wrong with him, and why he is contesting the LS election,” Ajit Pawar had said while trying to chide him.

Meanwhile, in Solapur, Congress candidate Praniti Shinde brought big cheer to the Sushil Kumar Shinde family as she won the Lok Sabha seat defeating BJP’s Ram Satpute by a comfortable margin of over 74,000 votes.

Solapur, once the bastion of Congress, had fallen to BJP. In the last two elections, Praniti’s father, Sushil Kumar Shinde, former CM, had lost to little known leaders. Shinde had thereupon decided not to contest Lok Sabha elections anymore. Earlier, his wife was also defeated from the same seat. ”Praniti has restored the family’s pride,” a Congress leader said.

Congress played its cards shrewdly in Solapur. It apparently got the VBA candidate to withdraw from the race. In 2019 elections, the votes polled by VBA candidate Prakash Ambedkar were instrumental in Shinde’s defeat, another Congress leader said. ”This time, the VBA candidate withdrew from the race while opposing the BJP’s bid to change the constitution. This worked in Praniti’s favour,” the leader added.

Mahesh Kothe, an NCP (S-P) leader said, “Praniti Shinde’s work as an MLA stood her in good stead. She has been the face of Congress in Solapur and draws good support and guidance from her father.”