Maharashtra results 2024: Congress big guns lose big, ex-CM Chavan, Thorat bite the dust in Karad, Sangamner seats

The Congress had always dominated the Karad South seat. In 1951 and 1957, Yashwantrao Mohite was elected from the Peasants and Workers’ Party (PWP). After that, Mohite joined the Congress. He won on Congress tickets from 1962 to 1978. From 1980 to 2009, that is for seven consecutive times, Vilasrao Patil Undalkar won from the seat. In 2014 and 2019, Chavan won the seat. He had to put a hard fight both times.

In this election, Chavan alleged that BJP attempted to bribe voters. “It has fielded a rich candidate once again. The candidate has lost against me twice, yet BJP has fielded him because he has lot of money,” Chavan had said.

Chavan had also alleged that Fadnavis was targetting top Congress leaders. “Fadnavis wants to defeat me and other top Congress leaders,” he had told this paper.

During his rally in Karad, Fadnavis said he was confident the wind was blowing in the other direction now. “Hava-oke rookh badal rahe hain,” he had said,, which drew huge cheers from the crowd. Fadnavis had described Prithviraj Chavan as international material and not state assembly material.

Another Congress person to lose was senior party leader Balasaheb Thorat, whose proximity to the Gandhi family is well-known. Rahul Gandhi had stayed at his place during the 2019 elections.

Thorat, who had won the Sangamner seat (in Ahilyanagar district) for eight consecutive times, lost to first timer Amol Khatal of the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

While Khatal notched up 1,12,386 votes, Thorat secured 1,01,826 votes. Thorat lost by 10,560 votes.

Thorat had actually decided not to contest the election. Instead, he had decided to field his daughter, Jayshree Thorat. It was supposed to be Thorat’s last election.

His nephew MLC Satyajeet Tambe said, “t is absolutely shocking. No words can express the feeling of this defeat since we have worked tirelessly for this constituency for the last 40 years.”

Earlier speaking to this paper in Sangamner, Tambe had said that Thorat would win the seat comfortably as he had slogged relentlessly for the development of the constituency. “Our drinking water position is far better than the neighbouring seat of Shirdi,” he had claimed.

Top MVA leaders had held rallies for Thorat. However, for Khatal former BJP MP Sujay Vikhe-Patil held as many as six rallies while his father Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil also held a rally. Radhakrishna VIkhe-Patil himself won the neighbouring Shirdi seat for the 8th consecutive time. Last two elections, he had won on BJP ticket. Before that he had won on Congress and Shiv Sena tickets.

”Khatal had never contested an election before. He was Mahayuti Government chief of the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana,” said a Sena leader.