Chhagan Bhujbal triumphs in Yeola amid Maratha quota debate; nephew Sameer faces loss in Nandgaon

Nashik: NCP minister and senior OBC politician Chhagan Bhujbal retained Yeola, the assembly constituency he has been winning since 2004. However, his nephew Sameer Bhujbal, who contested from Nandgaon as an independent, was defeated by sitting Shiv Sena MLA Suhas Kande.Chhagan Bhujbal, who got 1.35 lakh votes, defeated his NCP (SP) rival Manikrao Shinde by over 26,000 votes. In the 2019 assembly polls, Chhagan Bhujbal's victory margin was over 56,000. His victory this time is significant as there are over 1.3 lakh voters from the Maratha community in the constituency. Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange had held a roadshow in Yeola a few days before polling, and without naming Chhagan Bhujbal, Jarange had called upon the voters to "teach a lesson" to all those who oppose Maratha reservation.Bhujbal has been opposing Jarange's demand for Maratha reservation from within the OBC quota. "Voters in Yeola have reposed their trust in me. I have done development work in my constituency since I first won in 2004. Voters have cast their ballot in favour of Mahayuti's good work," said Chhagan Bhujbal while thanking voters.NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar had also addressed a rally in Yeola in the run-up to the assembly polls, appealing to voters to defeat Chhagan Bhujbal. Pawar had accused Chaggan Bhujbal of not having any political ideology and respect for his party colleagues. "In Yeola, neither Pawar saab nor Jarange could woo the voters. This shows how Bhujbal nurtured Yeola over the years," said one of the OBC politician's supporters.However, in the Nandgaon constituency, Bhujbal's nephew Sameer faced defeat at the hands of sitting Shiv Sena MLA Suhas Kande. The latter defeated Sameer by a margin of over 89,000 votes. Kande received nearly 1.4 lakh votes. Interestingly, Kande had defeated Chhagan Bhujbal's son Pankaj, who was the sitting MLA, in 2019.Kande's supporters said voters supported the sitting MLA because he had taken up several development initiatives over the past five years.
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