Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Mahayuti candidate Suhas Shirsat won the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) election from the Aurangabad–Jalna Local Authorities' constituency on Monday. He secured 455 votes and defeated his nearest rival, Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate Ganesh Lokhande, who received 135 votes.
Independent candidate Isaq Khan Sandu Khan got 35 votes, while five votes were declared invalid. Returning Officer and District Collector Vinay Gauda G.C. announced the results after the counting of votes.
The election was part of the biennial MLC polls held for local authorities' constituencies across Maharashtra. Voting took place on June 18, while counting was conducted on Monday.
Unlike Assembly elections, these polls are not decided by the general public. The voters are elected representatives from municipal corporations, municipal councils, nagar panchayats and zilla parishads. The results are seen as a key test of political strength at the grassroots level.
The June 2026 MLC elections were among the most important political contests after the 2024 Assembly polls. They were closely watched to gauge the support the ruling Mahayuti alliance enjoyed among local body representatives ahead of the upcoming civic elections.
Across the state, elections were scheduled for 17 seats. However, polling was held in only 12 constituencies, as five Mahayuti candidates were elected unopposed. Overall, Mahayuti won 16 of the 17 seats. The only setback for the alliance came in Nashik, where BJP rebel Gokul Gite defeated the alliance's official Shiv Sena candidate Narendra Darade, exposing internal differences within the ruling coalition.
