Asian Age reports Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), made history defeating Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is sugar mill elections in western Maharashtra, the bastion of Congress-NCP. All Congress stalwarts including former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and senior Congress leader Patangrao Kadam lost in the elections.
The BJP-led panel won 17 out of 21 seats in the Krishna Cooperative Sugar Mill located at Karad in Satara district. Karad, the constituency of Mr Chavan, was a known Congress bastion as the party had not lost a single election there.
The victory is significant for the BJP as the Krishna Sugar Mill’s management can influence voters in six Assembly constituencies as the mill’s 5,000-odd members are scattered in these constituencies. Also, the BJP had not won any Assembly seat in the mill’s area of influence in the last election.
Meanwhile, the NCP has distanced itself from the defeat and said Congress was to be blamed for the dismal performance.