PUNE: In unexpected results in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance in the Maharashtra state gave the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena alliance a severe jolt by winning 25 out of the 48 seats in the state.
The biggest blow to the saffron alliance came from Mumbai, where all the six candidates, five from the Congress party and one from the NCP, have a clean sweep over its opponents.
The saffron alliance could manage to retain only 20 seats while three seats went to other smaller parties. The Congress-NCP alliance has thus succeeded in retaining its hold in Maharashtra.
The Congress and the NCP, however, received some setbacks in Raigad constituency where federal Minister of Minority Affairs Abdul Rahman Antulay lost to Sena candidate Gite. The Republican Party of India (RPI-Athavale) president Ramdas Athavale also lost in the religious town of Shirdi in Ahmednagar district.
In the prestigious Kolhapur constituency, NCP rebel candidate Sadashiv Mandalik, who contested as independent, defeated the NCP candidate and a royal scion Sambhaji Raje by a huge number.
The NCP also suffered humiliating defeat in its own stronghold of Pune, where out of three only one candidate, Supriya Sule, daughter of federal Agriculture Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, could retain the seat, while the lone Congress candidate Suresh Kalmadi managed to win by a slender margin, despite the hostile relations of Pawar's nephew and state Irrigation Minister Ajit Pawar. Party workers blamed Ajit for the defeat of its three candidates stating that his autocratic and arrogant behavior has caused the loss to the party in elections.
Though the Congress has improved its track record and bounced back, the NCP received a drubbing. As compared to its 14 Lok Sabha seats in the last elections, it has managed to retain only 8, while the Congress has increased its seats from 11 to 18 this time. The NCP received an unexpected jolt in Western Maharashtra while it fared well in North Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar's dream of becoming the prime minister was shattered by the Congress party's successes. Pawar looked gloomy with his party's result, which now stands to only 9. Speaking to the media in Mumbai last evening, Pawar endorsed the candidature of Manmohan Singh as the next prime minister and expressed satisfaction over the performance of the UPA allies.
"If we look at the performance of the Congress, the UPA partners would support the Congress decision as Manmohan was their prime ministerial candidate," Pawar said as the results of UPA gaining stronghold poured in.
Pawar also said that a stable government was need of the hour and indicated that UPA would continue with the good work. "People were confident that only the UPA can provide a stable government and with the results and trends available so far, there should be no hindrance to formation of a stable government," he said.
Welcoming the election results, Pawar said he was satisfied. He said detailed analysis could be done only after the entire results and details of voting pattern were out. UPA's five-year performance including various relief packages for farmers was the main agenda for the election campaign.
