In Madha, staying ahead in 4 Assembly seats gives NCP-SP’s Mohite Patil decisive edge

Mohite Patil had joined NCP (SP) in a move steered by Sharad Pawar after BJP denied him a ticket. The drought-prone Madha Lok Sabha constituency comprises six Assembly seats — Karmala, Madha, Sangola and Malshiras from Solapur district and Phaltan and Man.

Both candidates had pitched irrigation as the main issue in addition to making on employment for youths and creating ecosystems for agriculture aligned businesses, among others.

Across all rounds of counting, Mohite Patil stayed ahead in Karmala, Madha, Sangola and Malshiras, while Naik Nimbalkar led in numbers in Phaltan and Man. In the run up to polls on May 7, Madha witnessed rallies by all political heavyweights including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar and several state and national senior leaders.

“BJP’s handshake with Ajit Pawar had led to visible discontent among workers and citizens at the ground level. This was reflected in Naik Nimbalkar trailing in key constituencies. Moreover, Dhairyasheel leaving BJP to join NCP (SP) also left a negatively impact on Naik Nimbalkar’s voter base,” said senior local leader, who has worked in Solapur district.

In the final tally of 12,66,652 votes at the end of 27th round, Mohite Patil bagged 6,18,310 votes (48.81 per cent) and Naik Nimbalkar got 4,99,045 votes (39.4 per cent), giving a decisive lead of 1,19,265 to Mohite Patil.