LS polls: The three giant killers from Maharashtra
Among the contestants in Maharashtra, Nilesh Lanke, Bajarang Sonawane and Pratibha Dhanorkar defeated established leaders and became “giant killers” for supporters
Pune: Among the contestants in Maharashtra, a few stood out because of the way they took on established leaders and defeated them and becoming “giant killers” for supporters.
In Beed, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) announced Bajarang Sonawane’s candidature at the last moment and yet he defeated Pankaja Munde.
Sonawane was with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP when he made a bid to contest polls from Beed, a stronghold of the Mundes. Pawar senior offered him ticket from Beed, which witnessed a highly polarised contest on caste lines.
Eventually, Sonawane defeated Pankaja, daughter of late BJP leader Gopinath Munde, by a margin of around 6,500 votes.
“For us Bajarang Sonawane is the real giant killer,” said Jayant Patil, NCP (SP) state unit chief.
In Ahmednagar, Nilesh Lanke, coming from economically weaker section, defeated Sujay Vikhe, son of Radhakrishna Vikhe, by a margin of 28,929 votes.
Lanke, who previously served as the sarpanch of Hanga village and subsequently as Parner MLA, attributed his electoral success to the backing of people, party workers, farmers, unemployed youth, the Muslim community, and those aligned with the ideals of the Ambedkar movement. Son of a teacher, his journey highlights the grassroots support and shared values that propelled him to office.
For Lanke, the fight wasn’t easy. Sujay Vikhe-Patil, the sitting MP, enjoyed the support of his father, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, a seasoned senior minister, and his grandfather, Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil, a respected veteran politician and seven-time MP, who also served as a former Union minister.
“My fight was taken up by the common people ever since my name was announced,” said Lanke who switched over to Sharad Pawar from Ajit Pawar-led party just before the elections.
Meanwhile, in the Vidharbha region, Congress candidate Prathibha Dhanorkar became gaint killer from Chandrapur. She defeated BJP’s cabinet minister Sudhir Munguntiwar by 2.58 lakh votes. Munguntiwar, a minister in the state cabinet, was also teh Maharashtra state BJP head earlier.
For Munguntiwar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had come for campaigning. However, Dhanorkar’s win became possible due to sympathy for her as her husband Balu Dhanorkar passed away last year. Dhanorkar was teh Congress sole MP elected in 2029.
Even in the Dindori Lok Sabha constituency, BJP leader and minister of state Bharti Pawar got defeated by NCP’s candidate Bhaskar Bhagre who is a teacher by profession. Farmers in the constituency voted against the BJP over the onion export ban decision taken by the Centre. Bhagre defeated Pawar by 1,13 lakh votes.
