Mumbai: The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Elections 2024 are approaching, and all eyes are on the big contest. The ruling alliance, Mahayuti, is led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena - Shinde faction), along with Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis (BJP) and Ajit Pawar (NCP). They will go up against the opposition alliance, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), led by Sharad Pawar (NCP - Sharad Pawar faction) and Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena - UBT faction). Solapur City North, a key constituency in Solapur District, is getting a lot of attention.
Pandharpur is one of the 288 seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. It is seat number 252 and is located in Solapur District. This general category seat is currently represented by Bhalake Bharat Tukaram from the NCP. Pandharpur is a stronghold of Bharat Tukaram, as he has been able to win the elections from the constituency for three consecutive times and that too from different political parties. This shows the hold of Bharat Tukaram in the constituency.
Earlier, Paricharak Sudhakar Ramchandra won from the seat for five consecutive times since 1985. He also contested on Congress ticket and managed to win three times. He joined NCP in 1999 and won two consecutive times out of his total of five terms.
Key Candidates
There are a total of 24 candidates in fray for the Pandharpur assembly seat. The key candidates in the elections are Autade Samadhan Mahadeo from the BJP who is being backed by the MahaYuti and Bhalake Bhagirathdada Bharat from the Congress. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has also fielded its candidate from the seat, Dhotre Dilip Kashinath.
Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2019 Results
In Maharashtra Legislative Assembly 2019 elections, Bhalake Bharat Tukaram managed to get 89787 votes and defeated Paricharak Sudhakar Ramchandra of BJP in a close contest. Paricharak managed to get only 76426 votes in the elections.
Bhalake Bharat Tukaram has been ruling the constituency for the past 15 years and has managed to win the seat three consecutive times since 2009.
Pandharpur Legislative Assembly Constituency:
Pandharpur is one of the 11 assemblies in the Solapur district. These assemblies are - 244-Karmala, 245-Madha, 246-Barshi, 247-Mohol (SC), 248-Solapur City North, 249-Solapur City Central, 250- Akkalkot, 251-Solapur South, 252-Pandharpur, 253-Sangola, 254-Malshiras (SC).
Current situation in Maharashtra assembly:
The ruling alliance in Maharashtra currently has 202 MLAs. Among these, BJP holds 102 seats, NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) has 40, Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) has 38, and other parties have 24.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has 69 seats. Congress has 37, Shiv Sena (UBT faction) has 16, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) has 12, and other parties hold six. There are also 15 vacant seats.
Election Dates And Results:
Elections will be held in the Pandharpur assembly constituency on November 20, as all the 288 assembly seats in the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 will go for vote on the same date on Wednesday. The results for the elections will be announced on Friday (November 23) along with Jharkhand Assembly Elections results.