Shweta Mahale (centre) is one of only 21 women candidates who have won in the recently-concluded Maharashtra assembly elections.
Credit: X/@MLAShwetaMahale
Mumbai: With two major collisions in the fray, Maharashtra witnessed a fierce battle for its 288 member assembly on Saturday. Out of them 21 women candidates emerged victorious.
Of the total 4,136 candidates in fray, the males accounted for 3,771, while there were 363 females contesting , the women candidates in terms of percentage accounted for 8.77 per cent.
When the results of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly were declared, 21 of them were female candidates in a 288 member assembly.
20 of them are from the ruling Maha Yuti alliance comprising BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, while there is only one from the benches of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi which includes Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-headed NCP (SP).
The lone opposition MLA is Dr Jyoti Gaikwad, who has won the Dharavi seat for the Congress.
Dr Jyoti is sister of Mumbai Congress President Prof Varsha Gaikwad, who is Mumbai North Central MP and daughter of late Eknath Gaikwad, a former MLA and MP.
The BJP has the lion’s share of 14 women candidates emerging victorious, including 10 who were re-elected: Shweta Mahale (Chikli constituency), Meghana Bordikar (Jintur), Devyani Farande (Nashik Central), Seema Hiray (Nashik West), Manda Mhatre (Belapur), Manisha Chaudhari (Dahisar), Vidya Thakur (Goregaon), Madhuri Misal (Parvati), Monica Rajale (Shevgaon) and Namita Mundada (Kaij).
The four new women winners of the BJP are Shreejaya Chavan (Bhokar), Sulabha Gaikwad (Kalyan East), Sneha Pandit (Vasai) and Anuradha Chavan (Fulambari).
Manjula Gavit (Sakri) and Sanjana Jadhav (Kannad) were elected on the ruling Shiv Sena tickets.
The NCP women MLAs are Sulbha Khodke (Amravati), Saroj Ahire (Deolali), Sana Malik (Anushaktinagar) and Aditi Tatkare (Shrivardhan).
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar acknowledged that the Ladki Bahin have showered love and blessings.
In fact, soon after victory, Ajit Pawar, took to X, and wrote: “Maharashtra Chooses Pink”.
Data showed that women had voted in large numbers as well.
In at least 15 of the state’s 288 assembly constituencies, women voters outnumbered their male counterparts.
In the outgoing Assembly, there are 24 women MLAs.
Maharashtra Assembly poll 2024 results | Check constituency results here
Jharkhand Assembly poll 2024 results | Check constituency results here
Bypoll 2024 results | Check Karnataka results here
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls took place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP went up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress tried to make their mark. Maha Yuti are currently comfortably poised to win. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faced a challenge after Hemant Soren's arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP, but look set to retain power with its I.N.D.I.A. allies. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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