Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | Two Independents in House is historic low

Mumbai: With just two Independent members getting elected into the Vidhan Sabha - it is a historic low in Maharashtra.

In the 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly polls, 2,086 Independent candidates were in fray - of which only two entered the new House.

In Junnar (Pune district), Sharaddada Sonawane defeated Satyasheel Sherkar of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) by a margin of 6,664 votes.

In Chandgad (Kolhapur district), Shivaji Patil defeated Ajit Pawar-led NCP’s Rajesh Patil by 24,134 votes.

Some of the Independent candidate are strong rebels of the two political formations - Maha Yuti (NDA) comprising BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP and opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (I.N.D.I.A.) comprising Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).

However, in the NDA sweep, the Independent candidates were wiped out.

The maximum Independent candidates were elected in 1995, when a large number of them supported the erstwhile Shiv Sena-BJP dispensation.

In 2019, as many as 13 Independents were elected but they changed sides.

INDEPENDENTS

YEAR CONTESTED WON

1962 437 15

1967 463 16

1972 343 23

1978 894 28

1980 612 10

1985 1,506 20

1990 2,286 13

1995 3,196 45

1999 837 12

2004 1,083 19

2009 1,820 24

2014 1,699 07

2019 1,400 13

2024 2,086 02

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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