After defeat in LS elections, many lose assembly polls as well

PUNE: While political leaders who suffered defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha (LS) elections sought to revive their careers in the state assembly polls, the efforts of many prominent figures like Ravindra Dhangekar, Sanjay Kaka Patil, Satyajit Patil, Shashikant Shinde and Ram Satpute in this direction only met with further disappointment.

Sanjay Kaka Patil, a two-time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Sangli, lost the LS elections to Congress rebel Vishal Patil. He then joined the Nationalist Congress Party/NCP (Ajit Pawar) and contested the Tasgaon Kavathe Mahankal assembly seat only to be defeated once again, this time by Rohit Patil of the NCP (SP).

In Pune, Congress leader Ravindra Dhangekar contested the LS polls against Murlidhar Mohol of the BJP only to be defeated by nearly 1.25lakh votes. In the assembly polls too, Dhangekar, a sitting MLA, was defeated by BJP’s Hemant Rasane by around 19,000 votes.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Satyajit Patil, who lost the Hatkanangale LS seat to Dhairyashil Mane, attempted a comeback by contesting from the Shahuwadi assembly constituency in Kolhapur. He was defeated by Vinay Kore of Jan Surajya Shakti by over 36,000 votes, failing to regain lost ground.

NCP (SP) leader Shashikant Shinde, who contested the Satara LS seat against BJP’s Udayan Raje Bhosale, was defeated by 30,000 votes. In the Koregaon assembly constituency, Shashikant Shinde was defeated by Shiv Sena’s Mahesh Shinde by an even larger margin of 45,000 votes, further diminishing his standing.

In Solapur, BJP leader Ram Satpute, who lost the LS seat to Congress’s Praniti Shinde, sought redemption in the Malshiras assembly constituency. However, he was defeated again, this time by NCP’s Uttam Jankar by 13,000 votes.

The lone exception among such leaders was BJP’s Mihir Kotecha. After losing the Mumbai North East LS seat to Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Sanjay Patil by 29,000 votes, Kotecha bounced back by contesting the Mulund assembly seat. He defeated Congress’s Rakesh Shetty by a decisive margin of 90,000 votes, successfully regaining political ground.

Chitra Lele, assistant professor and head of the department of political science at SNDT College, remarked, “These leaders are attempting to regain lost ground. However, if a candidate loses connection with their constituency, consecutive defeats are likely. Political parties may rehabilitate such leaders through backdoor entries or positions depending on their influence within the party.” Lele added that the upcoming local body elections will influence how parties decide to reposition these leaders.