Pune division polls: Solapur leads in graduates' turnout, Satara in teachers', Pune district lowest

Voting in the Pune division graduates' and teachers' constituency elections did not follow a uniform pattern across the five districts of western Maharashtra. In the graduates' constituency, Solapur district recorded the highest turnout. In the teachers' constituency, Satara district was ahead.

In both constituencies, Pune district recorded the lowest turnout percentage among the districts. In the graduates' constituency, the lowest turnout was in Sangli and the highest in Solapur. In the teachers' constituency, Pune's turnout was low compared with the high turnout in Satara and Solapur. The difference is being discussed among political observers.

Several explanations are being offered. Voter apathy, shortcomings in local campaign machinery, candidates' outreach and the activity of political parties at the organisational level could all be reasons. Even so, the turnout percentage alone does not allow a direct conclusion about which party received more support.

The network of local leadership, educational institutions, the cooperative sector and party organisations in the five districts of the Pune division is considered politically very important. Given the traditional political equations of western Maharashtra, the Congress, the different factions of the Nationalist Congress Party and the BJP all put in their full strength in this election. The outcome will therefore be decided not only by turnout, but also by the candidates' personal public contact, the influence of local leaders and the parties' organisational planning.

In the graduates' constituency, all eyes are on the direct contest between Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Dr Smita Jadhav of the BJP. In the teachers' constituency, Congress sitting MLC Jayant Asgaonkar, the BJP's Kaustubh Gawde and other independent candidates have made the contest multi-cornered and close. The election is a real test of the major parties' organisational strength and the candidates' personal contact.

The division of votes, the areas where candidates have local influence and the count by order of preference will be important in the result. Counting will be held on October 27, and candidates and political parties are watching it closely. Whom this district-wise variation in turnout will favour will become clear only after the count.