Ajit Pawar wins directorship of Malegaon sugar mill, counting off to a slow start
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar won an easy victory from the seat he was contesting from for the post of directorship of the Malegaon Cooperative Sugar Mill in Baramati. Till 10 pm on Tuesday, besides Ajit Pawar's seat, leads of 12 others of the 21 seats were available with Ajit Pawar's Neelkantheshwar panel leading in 11. A cooperative election veteran and Ajit Pawar's arch rival Chandanrao Taware's Shetkari Sahakar Bachav panel was leading in the other seat.
The election for the Malegaon Cooperative Sugar Mill has been the talk of the town — and the state — as Ajit Pawar took on his uncle Sharad Pawar and cousin Supriya Sule. Taware, who has long fought what he calls the 'hegemony of the Pawars' in Baramati, had fielded his panel comprising local farmers. While both the Pawars were on opposite ends of the electoral battle, the Tawares are BJP supporters, which did not deter Ajit Pawar to stand against the Tawares or to declare that he would be the chairman of the mill if he gets elected.
Counting for the 21 seats started on Tuesday morning but due to extensive cross-voting between panels, it was off to a slow start. By 10 pm, leads in 13 seats were available. Ajit Pawar won his seat with a thumping majority, which was a foregone conclusion. In the other 12 seats, which included seats reserved for women, OBC and other categories, Ajit Pawar's panel was leading in 11 though by a slender margin. Taware's panel was lead in the other seat.
Voting for cooperative bodies are carried out using ballot papers, which are then counted manually. Trends showed over 19,000 voters have voted across panels, which slowed down the counting process. The Sharad Pawar-supported panel, it seems, has not been able to make an impact with the voters with the fight mainly between the Ajit Pawar-led panel and the one led by the Tawares. Going by the trends, Ajit Pawar is expected to win majority of the seats.
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