NCP (SP) candidate Pratapsinh Patil (C) after winning Aurangabad graduate constituency poll on Thursday
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar : NCP (SP) candidate Dr Pratapsinh Patil defeated sitting MLC Satish Chavan, ending the latter’s uninterrupted 18-year hold over the Aurangabad Graduates’ constituency. Patil polled 85,876 votes and defeated the Ajit Pawar-led NCP candidate by 18,124 votes after a marathon 45-hour count. However, Tope persuaded the party to give the ticket to Patil and then mobilised the organisation across all 76 talukas of Marathwada. “I got only 12 to 15 days. We covered all 76 talukas and took our issues directly to graduates,” Patil said. For Chavan, the defeat marks the end of an 18-year run in a constituency he had dominated since 2008.
Graduate voters from Marathwada were taken for granted and they vented their anger through the ballot boxes,” Patil said. One read: ‘Satish, bro, it is done now’,” Patil said. Do not be dejected by defeat, nor carried away by victory,” Chavan said.
The victory capped a campaign built around anti-incumbency, unemployed youth, rising education costs and anger among graduates who felt neglected after nearly two decades of the same representation. The outcome was also a gamble that paid off for Sharad Pawar . The NCP (SP) chief was initially inclined to field senior politician Rajesh Tope. Patil entered the race late and got barely two weeks to campaign. The campaign focused less on voter registration and more on voter anger. The party aggressively raised issues of unemployment, inflation and rising educational expenses, while targeting Chavan’s long incumbency. NCP (SP) netas Supriya Sule and Rohit Pawar campaigned extensively, while the party also reached out to major educational institutions across the region. “I decided not to criticise my rival. I focused on my agenda and vision. He claimed the mood against the incumbent was visible even during counting. “Angry voters even left chits inside ballot boxes. Accepting the verdict, the outgoing MLC struck a conciliatory note. “The people’s decision is final in democracy. I will continue working for jobs and industry for Marathwada’s youth.