MVA faces wipeout in Kolhapur, Satara

PUNE The Mahayuti alliance secured a sweeping victory in Kolhapur and Satara districts during the state assembly elections, leaving the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) with no seats in either district. For MVA, the saving grace was Solapur which offered four seats to NCP (SP) and one to Shiv Sena (UBT).
The results underscore the growing influence of the Mahayuti and mark a significant setback for the MVA, especially in regions considered its strongholds.
Kolhapur: Mahayuti’s clean sweep
Kolhapur district delivered a near-complete mandate for the Mahayuti, winning nine of the ten assembly seats. This landslide victory dealt a severe blow to Congress leader Satej Patil, who had played a central role in candidate selection for the MVA in the district.
Satej Patil’s nephew, Rituraj Patil, lost in Kolhapur South to BJP’s Amal Mahadik, a contest that drew state-wide attention due to controversial remarks by BJP MP Dhananjay Mahadik regarding the Ladki Bahini Yojana. The defeat was symbolic of the overall collapse of the MVA in Kolhapur, with even the high-profile backing of Satej Patil failing to retain a single seat for the Congress.
Meanwhile, Rajendra Yadravkar, an independent candidate backed by BJP, won from Shirol with a massive margin of 41,196 votes. In Kagal, the NCP’s (Ajit Pawar faction) Hasan Mushrif narrowly survived, defeating Samarjit Ghadge of the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) by 11,609 votes in a closely fought battle.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s rally and the BJP’s focus on schemes like the Ladki Bahini Yojana played a pivotal role in tilting voter sentiment in key constituencies like Kolhapur South.
Satara: MVA stronghold crumbles
Satara, long considered a bastion of Sharad Pawar and the Congress, was entirely captured by the Mahayuti, which won all eight assembly seats. The BJP bagged four seats, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena two, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP two.
In Karad South, former Chief Minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan suffered a crushing defeat to BJP’s Atul Bhosale by over 40,000 votes. Bhosale maintained a lead from the first round, garnering 139,505 votes in total.
Shivendrasinhraje Bhosale of the BJP secured a landslide victory in Satara city, defeating Amit Kadam of Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena by a margin of 1.4 lakh votes. In Koregaon, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena candidate Mahesh Shinde narrowly defeated Shashikant Shinde of the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction).
Phaltan saw BJP-supported independent Sachin Patil, backed by MP Ranjitsinh Naik Nimbalkar, win against Deepak Chavan of the Congress. This victory further diminished the influence of veteran NCP leader Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar in the constituency.
In Patan, BJP minister Shambhuraj Desai easily retained his seat, defeating Uddhav Sena’s Harshad Kadam and independent candidate Satyajit Patankar by over 34,000 votes.
Limited gains elsewhere for MVA
The MVA managed to secure five seats in Solapur and two each in Sangli and Ahmednagar, reflecting its declining clout across Western Maharashtra. The comprehensive victory of the Mahayuti in Kolhapur and Satara underscores the coalition’s strategic planning and the challenges faced by the MVA in regaining voter trust.