BJP’s Udayanraje Bhonsle trails in Satara Lok Sabha bypoll

Bhonsle, a three-term MP from the constituency, had resigned barely three months after the Lok Sabha elections that he won on an NCP ticket, thus necessitating the bypolls

Going by the early trends posted by the Election Commission of India, Udayanraje Bhonsle, incumbent member of Parliament and Chhatrapati Shivaji’s descendent who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) earlier this year, was trailing behind the Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Shriniwas Patil by about 10,000 votes.

Udayanraje Bhonsle (HT photo)

Bhonsle, a three-term MP from the constituency, had resigned barely three months after the Lok Sabha elections that he won on an NCP ticket, thus necessitating the bypolls. Together with cousin, Shivendra Raje Bhonsle, he joined the BJP in September.

Shriniwas Patil, a former Indian Administrative Services officer, is a two-term MP from Karad Lok Sabha constituency, which was merged with Satara constituency during the delimitation in 2008. The 78-year-old was also the governor of Sikkim from 2013 to 2018.

Satara is considered a bastion of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. Four of the six assembly seats in the Lok Sabha constituency were won by the NCP in 2014, and one was won by ally Congress. The Shiv Sena won the Patan assembly constituency while the BJP did not win a single seat in 2014.

Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pawar held rallies in the district for their respective candidates. Pawar’s rallies on October 18 and 19 became a talking point after he delivered his speech even though it began to rain heavily.