Huffing Jarange-Patil gone in a puff as Mahayuti wins big in Marathwada

The Lok Sabha results extrapolated to Assembly segments amusement that the Mahayuti trailed successful 32 seats successful Marathwada 5 months ago. This time, the conjugation didn’t conscionable triumph each these 32 seats, but besides secured 8 further constituencies.

Even the OBC-Maratha animosity that had been the talking constituent successful the aftermath of the Maratha quota agitation seems to person been swept speech successful the BJP-led Mahayuti wave. Among the BJP winners, 11 are Maratha but 4 are OBCs, 2 STs, 1 SC and 1 a Marwari.

Now, adjacent leaders who courted Jarange-Patil earlier are distancing themselves from him, taking a hint from the signals coming from the Mahayuti landslide. The activistic insists helium isn’t disheartened, and that his combat was not astir the Assembly predetermination results. “I had near it to the voters to instrumentality the call… But remember, Marathas played a important relation successful this election. If you deliberation they did not play that role, past you don’t recognize thing astir the Maratha assemblage and the Jarange factor,” helium told reporters aft the results.

About Maratha candidates fielded by the BJP, a enactment which helium had opposed, winning arsenic well, Jarange said: “My entreaty to the Maratha assemblage was to elite those who enactment our request for preservation and decision those who reason it. They took the call….”

The BJP’s 19 seats marque it the single-largest enactment successful Marathwada, followed by allies Shiv Sena astatine 13 and the NCP astatine 8. On the MVA side, of the 5 seats, 3 were won by the Sena (UBT), 1 by the Congress, and 1 by the NCP (SP). One spot went to an Independent.

Back successful August this year, Manoj Jarange Patil organised an agitation demanding preservation for Maratha assemblage successful OBC category. (Express photo)

The BJP played its cards good to claw backmost enactment among the Maratha community. Despite Jarange-Patil’s harsh attacks against him, Fadnavis kept his cool, not targeting the activistic by name.

Even arsenic Shiv Sena main and incumbent Chief Minister Eknath Shinde met Jarange-Patil respective times to placate him, some Fadnavis and NCP president Ajit Pawar ne'er called connected the activist. They adjacent kept distant from Jalna, Jarange-Patil’s location ground.

In the elections, Fadnavis addressed each of 2 rallies crossed Marathwada’s 46 seats – successful Aurangabad and Nanded. One striking illustration of however Jarange-Patil’s anti-Fadnavis run failed was the effect successful the Yevla seat, from wherever NCP campaigner and 1 of Maharashtra’s senior-most OBC leaders Chhagan Bhujbal contested. During the campaign, Jarange-Patil accused Bhujbal, a vociferous hostile of the Maratha quota demand, of being a “puppet” of Fadnavis. The activistic besides held a roadshow and a rally successful Yevla, urging voters to decision Bhujbal for blocking the inclusion of Marathas arsenic OBCs.

Even arsenic Shiv Sena main and incumbent Chief Minister Eknath Shinde met Jarange-Patil respective times to placate him, some Fadnavis and NCP president Ajit Pawar ne'er called connected the activist. (Express photo)

NCP (SP) main Sharad Pawar pitched successful for his enactment campaigner who was taking connected Bhujbal. But Bhujbal ended up winning by implicit 26,000 votes. While this was a crisp diminution from his 2019 borderline of 56,000 votes, what was important was that the NCP (SP) campaigner helium defeated, Manikrao Shinde, is simply a Maratha. There are an estimated 1.35 lakh members of the Maratha assemblage successful Yevla.

As the results came in, Bhujbal took a swipe astatine Jarange-Patil: “He targeted Fadnavis and me… But Jarange should retrieve that Maratha voters are intelligent, they don’t get swayed easily.”

In Aurangabad East seat, AIMIM Maharashtra main Imitiaz Jaleel met Jarange-Patil respective times during the campaign, and sought his support. That didn’t assistance Jaleel either, with the AIMIM person suffering a daze decision to the BJP’s Atul Save by astir 2,000 votes.

Asked astir wherefore Jarange-Patil’s “endorsement” didn’t assistance him, Jaleel said: ”I had the enactment of the activist, but helium had not declared it openly.”

Asked whether the results meant the Jarange-Patil origin had failed, Congress Jalna MP Kalyan Kale said: “I don’t deliberation we should speech of a Jarange origin successful these elections. The activistic had withdrawn from the canvass fray and told Maratha voters to instrumentality their ain determination connected voting.”

Incidentally, the BJP won each the 3 Assembly segments nether the Jalna Lok Sabha spot this clip – having trailed successful them successful the Lok Sabha polls. Namita Mundada, the BJP’s recently elected MLA from Kaij successful Beed district, besides deflected a question connected the activist: ”No, I don’t privation to speech astir the Jarange factor,” she said.