Jalgaon: The ministers representing the district should be those who fulfil the expectations and aspirations of the voters; otherwise, the public sends a message through voting that these leaders should not take them for granted.
This is exactly what happened in the municipal elections. The voters completely tarnished the reputation of the three ministers from Jalgaon district, as they outright rejected the candidates put forward by them.
The reputation of Raksha Khadse, who is a minister in the central government, Guardian Minister Gulabrao Patil, and Textile Minister Sanjay Savkare, was severely damaged as voters repeatedly sent them the message not to take them for granted.
Dharangaon is a village in Guardian Minister Gulabrao Patil's constituency. Gulabrao is constantly present in Dharangaon. This led to his sweet misconception that the village was completely under his control. Vaishali Bhave was fielded as a candidate through the Janvikas Aghadi (People's Development Front). Gulabrao supported her.
However, the Dharangaon Vikas Aghadi (Dharangaon Development Front) fielded Lilabai Chaudhary for the post of mayor, and Lilabai Chaudhary emerged victorious in this contest.
The voters are angry with Gulabrao due to the lack of development work in the city and the water problem in Dharangaon. This anger culminated in the voting, and the voters brought the Guardian Minister down to earth.
Recognising that cooperation with the BJP is necessary for the development of the city, Lilabai may hold the BJP's hand for the city's development in the future.
The Muktainagar constituency belongs to Eknath Khadse. In this constituency, the assembly election is always a contest between Chandrakant Patil and Eknath Khadse. Eknath Khadse and Raksha Khadse believed that the Muktainagar constituency was completely under their control. This overconfidence proved costly for Raksha Khadse.
Raksha Khadse could only get four corporators elected in the Muktainagar constituency, while Sanjana Patil, the daughter of Shinde Sena MLA Chandrakant Patil, was elected as the mayor against the candidate fielded by Raksha Khadse, winning by 2436 votes.
Girish Mahajan says that Eknath Khadse's statement during the election campaign that this was a battle between their two families had an adverse effect, while Raksha Khadse claims that the BJP did not support her. Regardless of whose claims are true, the fact remains that Raksha Khadse's charisma did not work in Muktainagar today.
In Bhusawal, Textiles Minister Sanjay Savkare's wife, Rajni Savkare, was defeated in this election; she was contesting for the mayor's post. This seat was reserved for a Scheduled Caste woman, and as soon as the election was announced, Sanjay Savkare posted a message on social media congratulating his wife.
This haste backfired on him because it gave the impression that Savkare had manipulated the seat. Khadse had brought Savkare into politics, given him a BJP ticket, and made him an MLA. Former MLA Santosh Chaudhary and Eknath Khadse entered the fray against the same Savkare. Social equations came into play.
The Chief Minister held a rally in Bhusawal for Savkare. After the rally, Sanjay Savkare's confidence in success increased, but this overconfidence proved detrimental, and Rajni Savkare had to taste defeat.
In Jamner, however, Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan got his wife, Sadhana Mahajan, elected unopposed, demonstrating that not only the city of Jamner but the entire constituency was under his control.
Here, a staggering 22 BJP corporators were elected. In Pachora, Shinde group MLA Kishor Patil gave his wife Sunita Patil the Shiv Sena ticket, while the BJP fielded Sucheta Patil, the wife of former MLA Dilip Wagh. This seat was under the district's spotlight, and Kishor Patil easily secured Sunita Patil's victory.
In this election, out of 18 mayoral seats, the Mahayuti alliance won 16 seats, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi secured only two. The Congress party did not win a single seat, and the Uddhav Thackeray faction and the Sharad Pawar group each won one seat, resulting in a complete rout for the Maha Vikas Aghadi in the district.
