Counting Begins for Five Maharashtra Legislative Council Seats; 182 Candidates in Fray

The polls have emerged as a significant contest between the ruling Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes Shiv Sena (UBT), the NCP faction led by Sharadchandra Pawar and the Congress.

Rebellion within parties, contests between alliance partners and the presence of strong Independent candidates have added to the competition across the five constituencies.

Pune and Nagpur Graduate Seats in Focus

In the Pune Graduate constituency, the contest includes BJP candidate Dr Smita Jadhav and Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar). The constituency recorded a voter turnout of 62.78 per cent among approximately 3.88 lakh registered voters.

The Nagpur Graduate constituency, traditionally considered a BJP stronghold, witnessed a contest between incumbent MLC Abhijit Wanjari, backed by the Congress-led opposition, and Sudhakar Kohale of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance.

Voter turnout in Nagpur stood at 64.76 per cent, with 38 candidates in the fray.

High Turnout in Teachers’ Constituencies

The Pune Teachers constituency recorded a turnout of 85.87 per cent among 61,940 registered voters. The principal candidates include incumbent Jayant Asgaonkar of the Congress, BJP nominee Kaustubh Gawade and Independent candidate Sachin Sanap.

In the Amravati Teachers constituency, turnout reached 91.08 per cent among approximately 33,000 registered voters. Around 26 candidates are contesting the seat.

The candidates include Shiv Sena nominee Kiran Sarnaik, Congress candidate Aditi Pohre, Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee Dattatray Lahane and Samajwadi Ganrajya Party candidate Suresh Devkar.

Other contestants include former legislator Shrikant Despande, Sangita Shinde, sister of BJP MP Anil Bonde, Chandrashekhar Bhoyar and Sumit Pawar.

Multiple Opposition Candidates in Marathwada

The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, or Marathwada, Graduate constituency recorded a turnout of 58.67 per cent.

The Mahayuti alliance has fielded three-time incumbent MLC Satish Chavan under the NCP banner. The opposition contest has become more complicated, with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP fielding Dr Pratap Singh Patil and Shiv Sena (UBT) nominating Dilip Ghorge.

The presence of two MVA candidates in the same constituency has added another dimension to the contest.

Results to Test Alliance Coordination

Beyond the individual constituencies, the elections are being closely watched as an indicator of organisational strength and coordination within Maharashtra’s political alliances.

For the ruling Mahayuti, the results will offer insight into the impact of disagreements over seat allocation, internal dissent and competition between alliance partners on the transfer of votes.

For the MVA, the outcome will indicate whether the opposition has been able to benefit from rivalries within the ruling coalition and local voter discontent.

The counting process will determine the winners across the five constituencies and provide a measure of the relative strength of the competing parties in these Graduate and Teachers’ seats.