The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Tuesday that the Assembly polls in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on November 20, while the votes will be counted on November 23.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is keen on retaining power in the state along with allies Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. On the other hand, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) is aiming to repeat its Lok Sabha performance.
While neither alliance has announced its candidates for any of the 288 seats yet, we can do a basic analysis based on the Lok Sabha election results.
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There are a total of eight Assembly seats in Pune City: Vadgaon Sheri, Shivajinagar, Kothrud, Parvati, Pune Cantonment, Kasba Peth, Hadapsar (part of Shirur Lok Sabha seat) and Khadakwasla (part of Baramati Lok Sabha seat). In the Lok Sabha elections, the Mahayuti was leading in seven of these eight seats, while the MVA was ahead only in Hadapsar.
Let us look at each seat separately:
1. Vadgaon Sheri – Mahayuti candidate Murlidhar Mohol secured 1,19,738 votes, while MVA nominee Ravindra Dhangekar got 1,04,753 votes in Vadgaon Sheri.
2. Shivajinagar – Mohol received 68,152 votes, while Dhangekar garnered 64,815 votes.
3. Kothrud – Mohol obtained 1,41,928 votes compared to Dhangekar's 67,671.
4. Parvati – Mohol's tally stood at 1,03,542 votes, outshining Dhangekar's 74,545 votes.
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5. Pune Cantonment – Mohol secured 63,246 votes, ahead of Dhangekar's 76,543 votes.
6. Kasba Peth – Mohol garnered 87,565 votes, while Dhangekar fell slightly short with 73,082 votes.
7. Hadapsar – MVA candidate Amol Kolhe secured 1,33,818 votes, slightly ahead of Mahayuti's Shivajirao Adhalrao's 1,20,429 votes.
8. Khadakwasla – Mahayuti candidate Sunetra Pawar garnered 1,41,928 votes, while MVA's Supriya Sule fell slightly short with 1,21,182 votes.
Meanwhile, among the incumbent MLAs, the MVA has its representative only in Kasba Peth with Congress's Ravindra Dhangekar, while the Mahayuti has its MLAs in the remaining seven seats. The BJP holds five seats: Siddharth Shirole in Shivajinagar, Chandrakant Patil in Kothrud, Madhuri Misal in Parvati, Sunil Kamble in Pune Cantonment and Bhimrao Tapkir in Khadakwasla, and the NCP holds two seats: Sunil Tingre in Vadgaon Sheri and Chetan Tupe in Hadapsar.
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Now, it remains to be seen if the Mahayuti will repeat its candidates or gives chances to new faces. Conversely, the MVA faces a challenge of picking the right candidates that can challenge the ruling alliance.