PoliticsNCP
Sunetra Pawar's panel wins all 21 seats in Someshwar sugar factory election
The Deputy Chief Minister's NCP panel beat a BJP-backed rival and a Sharad Pawar-camp slate in the first big cooperative contest since Ajit Pawar's death.
Key points
- The NCP panel led by Sunetra Pawar won all 21 seats on the Someshwar cooperative sugar factory board.
- Its candidates each polled more than 12,000 votes, against about 5,500 to 6,000 for the BJP-backed panel.
- Turnout was 84.25% of 27,625 members.
The Nationalist Congress Party panel led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar has won all 21 seats in the election to the board of the Shri Someshwar Cooperative Sugar Factory in Pune district, seeing off two rival panels in a contest closely watched as a test of her leadership.
It was the first major election in the state’s cooperative sector since the death of NCP president Ajit Pawar.
Of the factory’s 27,625 members, 23,393 voted, a turnout of 84.25%. Sunetra Pawar’s candidates each polled more than 12,000 votes. The clean sweep leaves her panel with every seat on the 21-member board, and both rival camps without a single director.
Two rivals, both beaten
The strongest challenge came from Purushottam Jagtap, who chaired the factory for 13 years before breaking with the NCP. His Loknete Ajitdada Someshwar Vikas panel, backed by the BJP, averaged between 5,500 and 6,000 votes per candidate.
The Someshwar Shetkari Vikas panel, backed by the NCP (SP), finished a distant third with about 2,500 votes per candidate. Its campaign was led by Yugendra Pawar, and party chief Sharad Pawar toured drought-affected parts of the factory’s operating region during the contest.
Sunetra Pawar gave the credit to Ajit Pawar. “This victory is the result of the work (Ajit) Dada has done over the years,” she said. “The farmers here have honoured his efforts by extending their support.”