Satara Lok Sabha Seat: Bigg Boss Fame Abhijit Bichukale Gets Mere 1,395 Votes

Abhijit Bichukale, known for his appearances on Bigg Boss 15 and Bigg Boss Marathi, contested the Lok Sabha elections from Satara as an independent candidate. However, he polled a mere 1,395 votes, 5,69,739 less than the winner.

Despite unsuccessful attempts in previous elections, including the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Satara, the 2019 Assembly elections from Worli, and the Kasba Assembly bypoll in 2023, Bichukale contested again this year.

Meanwhile, in Satara, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Udayanraje Bhonsle, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, defeated Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) nominee Shashikant Shinde by 32,771 votes after a close contest.

Satara, historically a Congress stronghold since the 1950s, witnessed a shift in dominance to Sharad Pawar's NCP after the party's formation in 1999. Udayanraje Bhonsle secured consecutive victories in the 2009, 2014, and 2019 Lok Sabha polls on an NCP ticket. However, he resigned from the party and joined the BJP, necessitating a bypoll in Satara. In the bypoll, NCP's Shriniwas Patil defeated Bhonsle by 87,717 votes. The visuals of Sharad Pawar drenched in rain and giving a speech were the highlight of this bypoll.

This time, Bhonsle polled 5,71,134 votes, while Shinde received 5,38,363 votes. Shriniwas Patil chose not to contest due to ill health.