Rebel BJP Leader Defeats Eknath Shinde Nominee In Maharashtra Council Polls

Eknath Shinde was in for a rude shock as his party candidate, Narendra Darade, suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of rebel BJP leader Gokul Gite in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Nashik district local governing body constituency.

The votes were counted Monday for the June 18 elections to 11 seats in the state legislature's Upper House. The ruling Mahayuti alliance, which includes Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, secured victory in 16 out of 17 seats.

Gite secured 357 votes against Darade's 248, winning by 109 votes, as per election officials.

Darade belongs to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, which has been in the spotlight following a rebellion by six of the nine Shiv Sena (UBT) Lok Sabha members, with two of them confirming their switch to the ruling Sena.

Shinde,  along with several elected representatives, had campaigned in the constituency for the election.

A visibly upset Darade left the counting centre after it became clear that a majority of local representatives had voted in favour of Gite.

The biennial elections were originally notified for 17 seats, including one bypoll, but voting was necessitated in only 11 constituencies as candidates of the Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Sunetra Pawar's NCP, secured unopposed victories in six seats.

The Nashik constituency had witnessed controversy since Gite announced his candidature against Darade. He had alleged that Darade used foul language against him.

Gite entered the contest as an independent against Darade, the ruling alliance's official candidate. Senior Mahayuti leaders, including Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Shinde, BJP minister Girish Mahajan and Shiv Sena minister Uday Samant had intervened to resolve the issue.

Following intense discussions, Gite halted his campaign, but his name remained on the ballot as the withdrawal deadline had passed.

Though Gite had said he would not continue his campaign after meetings with senior leaders, he clarified on Monday that he only suspended his personal campaign while his supporters continued canvassing.

BJP's Arun Lakhani from Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli and Prajakt Tanpure from Ahilyanagar, NCP nominees Vikram Kakade from Pune and Aniket Tatkare from Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, and Shiv Sena candidates Ravindra Phatak from Thane and Dushyant Chaturvedi from Yavatmal were elected unopposed.

Tanpure joined the BJP shortly before filing his nomination. The Ahilyanagar leader, a nephew of NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil, had earlier served as a minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.