Maharashtra Assembly elections: BJP's Pankaja Munde concedes defeat from Parli assembly seat

BJP leader and Maharashtra cabinet minister Pankaja Munde on Thursday accepted her defeat from Parli assembly seat at the hands of her cousin and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde. The result of the Parli seat has not been declared yet, but Pankaja was trailing behind Dhananjay Munde by almost 30,000 votes.

"I worked for the constituency. Though I was in the government, my struggle for my constituency and people continued. I take responsibility for this defeat," she said.

Political scenario

The opposition tried to corner the BJP government on the handling of the economy with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi blaming the ruling party for the economic slowdown, unemployment, highlighting issues like "failure" of demonetisation and GST rollout. The BJP, on the other hand, is seeking a second straight term under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra.

READ| Maharashtra Election Results 2019: Sharad Pawar mulling Sena alliance?

Among other parties, Raj Thackeray's MNS fielded 101 candidates, the CPI 16, the CPM 8. The BSP fielded candidates in 262 constituencies. A total of 1400 Independents are also in the poll arena. The opposition campaign was, however, lackluster as both the Congress and the NCP were plagued by infighting and desertions in the run-up to the polls.

The campaign in Maharashtra was marked by sharp exchange of barbs between the chief minister of Maharashtra and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who hit the hustings at the age of 79 and addressed a number of rallies. While allies NCP and Congress failed to hold any joint rallies, PM Modi addressed nine rallies across the state, Rahul Gandhi spoke at six public meetings. The campaign also saw an undertone of jostling for supremacy between the BJP and the Shiv Sena, which had fought the last assembly elections separately, winning 122 and 63 seats respectively. The Congress had bagged 42 and the NCP 41 seats. 

Prominent candidates in the fray are Chief Minister Fadnavis and his predecessors from Congress, Ashok Chavan, who is in fray from Bhokar in Nanded district, and Prithviraj Chavan seeking re-election from Karad South in Satara district. Yuva Sena chief Aaditya, the first from the Thackeray family, contested from Mumbai's Worli constituency. NCP's Satara strongman, Shivaji Maharaj's descendent Udayanraje Bhosale jumped the ship to BJP weeks before the elections. 

READ| Randeep Sujrewala loses Kaithal seat to BJP's Leela Ram

(With PTI inputs)