Pune MLC results remained closely contested in the teacher constituency on Wednesday, with BJP candidate Kaustubh Gawade leading after 22 elimination rounds, while Harshada Deshmukh Jadhav of the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party was close to securing the graduate constituency seat.
Counting for five Maharashtra Legislative Council teacher and graduate constituencies began at 8am. The Pune teacher and graduate constituencies attracted particular attention because political parties had treated the elections as a prestige contest.
In the teacher constituency, Gawade had secured 17,650 votes by the end of the 22nd round, according to Sakal – Pune. Independent candidate Sachin Sanap, backed by Shiv Sena, was in second place with 11,383 votes. Rashtriya Samaj Paksha candidate Dattatraya Sawant had 10,401 votes, while Congress candidate Jayant Asgaonkar was fourth with 8,390 votes.
The teacher constituency recorded 51,511 valid votes and 1,673 invalid votes. The quota required for victory was fixed at 25,756 votes. As of 7.30pm, 22 rounds had been completed and 23 candidates had been eliminated. Since the contest uses a preferential voting system, the leading candidate’s position could be affected by transfers from eliminated candidates before the quota is reached.
The result therefore remained unresolved at the stage reported by the publication. Gawade’s lead was significant, but his total was still below the declared winning quota. Sanap and Sawant remained the next two candidates in the count, while Asgaonkar was placed fourth.
The contest brought together candidates backed by the BJP, Congress and Shiv Sena, along with an RSP candidate and other contestants. The close numbers reflect the importance attached by parties to the limited but politically influential teacher electorate represented in the Legislative Council.
In the Pune graduate constituency, Harshada Deshmukh Jadhav was leading by about 11,000 votes against BJP candidate Smita Jadhav. Deshmukh Jadhav had received 112,385 votes and needed only 725 additional votes to complete the quota, making her victory highly likely according to the report. The final result, however, was still linked to completion of the count.
Voting for the teacher and graduate constituencies took place on October 23. The Legislative Council seats are elected by specialised electorates rather than the general voting population, giving the results importance for the representation of teachers and graduates in Maharashtra’s state legislature. The next formal milestone was the completion of counting and declaration of the final results by the returning authorities.
