Modi wave sweeps Maharashtra

Congress party's rout especially in Ratnagiri-Sindudhurg and Nagpur led to resignations by the state industries minister Narayan Rane and minister for water conservation Nitin Raut.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who led the the Congress party from the front, termed party's drubbing as "Big Shocker" while the NCP leader and union minister Praful Patel, who lost to the BJP nominee Nana Patole from Bhandara-Gondia admitted that Modi wave has effectively worked one way. Congress-NCP had together won 25 seats while it got support from three independents in 2009 polls while BJP-Sena combine had bagged 20 seats.

As expected there were celebrations across the state in the BJP-Sena camp while Congress and NCP offices wore deserted look. BJP-Sena has attributed sterling performance to Modi wave along with the anti incumbency and their effective campaigning to cash in on the unrest especially in youths and women. On the other hand, Congress-NCP, which has been repeatedly rejecting the presence of Modi wave, admitted that Modi charisma and BJP's aggressive campaigning have been responsible for their poor show. Besides, internal bickering between Congress & NCP also led its drubbing.

Interestingly, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which had fielded 10 nominees, failed to open its account. However, six of its candidates lost their deposit. Further, Aam Aadmi Party, which wanted to repeat the Delhi performance, failed to do magic as it did not win a single seat.

The big losers include union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde (Solapur), union heavy industries minister Praful Patel (Bhandara-Gondia), union minister of state for social justice and nine term MP Manikrao Gavit (Nandurbar), union minister of state for communications and ports Milind Deora (south Mumbai), union minister of state for coal Pratik Patil (Sangli), Maharashtra minister for public works Chhagan Bhujbal (Nashik), state minister for water resources Sunil Tatkare (Raigad), minister of state for revenue Suresh Dhas (Beed), Priya Dutt (south central Mumbai), Vishwajit Kadam (Pune), Congress MP Nilesh Rane, who is the son of Maharashtra industries minister Narayan Rane (Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg).

The list of winners include former chief minister and Congress nominee Ashok Chavan (Nanded), Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's close confidant and All India Youth Congress chief Rajeeev Satav (Hingoli), former union ministers Anant Gite (Raigad) and Anandrao Adsul (Amravati), BJP leader late Pramod Mahajan's daughter Poonam Mahajan (north central Mumbai).

Of the 48 seats, in all six seats of Mumbai, the Congress-NCP faced humiliating defeat while it was a major gains for the saffron alliance which had failed to open account in 2009 polls. Vidarbha turned out to be a big surprise for the BJP-Sena as the alliance has won all the 10 seats. Congress-NCP failed to counter the Modi wave especially by cashing on support from the traditional voters including muslim, dalit and other backward classes. BJP's former national president Nitin Gadkari, who early this week got a clean chit from the income tax with regard to alleged irregularities involving Purti Group of industries founded by him, defeated the Congress stalwart Vilas Muttemwar while Congress general secretary Mukul Wasnik lost to Shiv Sena nominee Krupal Tumane from the reserved Ramtek seat.

In the underdeveloped Marathwada, of the eight seats, Congress party got a respite as the party nominee and former state chief minister Ashok Chavan, who got the party nomination last minute despite his alleged involvement in the Adarsh scam, won from Nanded seat defeating his immediate rival and BJP nominee DB Patil. Similarly, Congress nominee Rajeev Satav defeated Shiv Sena MP Subhash Wankhede in Hingoli constituency. BJP's deputy leader in the 15th Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde, who is sulking for his neglect in the party, won from Beed seat defeating the NCP minister Suresh Dhas in Beed constituency. In Osmanabad, former minister and the NCP MP Padmasinh Patil faced humiliating defeat from the Shiv Sena nominee Ravi Gaikwad.  

In the western and southern Maharashtra, the traditional Congress-NCP bastion, the Modi wave came to the help of saffron alliance to make sufficient inroads. Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde was lost to the BJP nominee Sharad Bansode in Solapur seat. Shinde, who last year had declared not to contest the Lok Sabha polls, was told by the Congress high command to reconsider his decision. NCP MP and union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule, who was trailing in the initial rounds, sailed through defeating the Rashtriya Samaj Party (RSP) nominee Mahadev Jankar.

In Sangli, the hometown of cooperative movement veteran and former chief minister Vasantada Patil, Congress party failed to cash in on the former's legacy. The party nominee and union minister of state for coal Pratik Patil lost to the BJP nominee Sanjay Patil who had deserted the NCP to join the saffron party in the run up to the polls. In Satara, the NCP MP and the King Shivaji's descendent Udayanraje Bhosale emerged victorious.

In Nashik, the state public works minister and OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal lost to Shiv Sena nominee Hemant Godse while in Nanduarbar the nine term MP and the union minister for social justice Manikrao Gavit failed to retain his seat as the first timer and the BJP nominee Hina Gavit won the seat. Similarly, in Jalgaon and Raver constituencies BJP retained its supremacy.

Furthermore, in Thane, the Shiv Sena has succeed to outsmart the NCP.  The Sena nominee Rajan Vichare defeated the NCP MP Sanjeev Naik. In the adjoining Kalyan seat, NCP candidate Anand Paranjape, who had deserted Shiv Sena about two years ago, lost to the Shiv Sena nominee Shrikant Shinde. In the powerloom town Bhiwandi, the BJP nominee Kapil Patil, who left NCP ahead of the polls, defeated the Congress nominee Vishwanath Patil.