BJP's Gawde wins Pune teachers' seat; NCP (SP)'s Deshmukh-Jadhav takes graduates' seat

The results of the Pune division teachers' and graduates' Legislative Council elections have been declared. Kaustubh Gawde of the BJP won the teachers' constituency, while Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav of Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party won the graduates' constituency. The results have given a new direction to the state's political equations. Gawde's win has cheered the BJP camp, while Deshmukh-Jadhav's win has given the Maha Vikas Aghadi a major boost.

Gawde's contact with voters, his campaign planning and local political equations played an important part in his win. The result has brought out the importance of the stand the candidate took on teacher voters' questions and the work done at the organisational level. On the graduates' seat, the Maha Vikas Aghadi camp is satisfied with Deshmukh-Jadhav's win. Her lead remained a talking point during counting.

Preferential votes made the counting process quite complicated. Suspense over the outcome lasted until the final round, which has lent the win added significance. It has given the Maha Vikas Aghadi a chance to consolidate its position among graduate voters further. However, instead of crediting the success only to party equations, the candidate's contact with voters, the role of local leadership and the campaign issues also need to be considered.

The results on the two seats cannot be viewed merely in terms of win and loss. The BJP's success on the teachers' seat and the Maha Vikas Aghadi's victory on the graduates' seat present different pictures of voters' expectations and local equations. It would not be right to claim political dominance over the whole division on the strength of one seat. The results give both alliances a chance to review their organisational strength.

After the defeat on the Pune division graduates' seat, questions have begun to be raised about the BJP's process, from candidate selection to election management. The BJP, which won the teachers' seat, failed on the graduates' seat. Whether a change in candidature and shortcomings in the campaign machinery of local leaders were the reasons has become a subject of discussion in political circles.

Sharad Lad, son of former MLA Arun Lad, had prepared to contest the graduates' seat after joining the BJP. While talk of his candidature was still going on, the party gave the chance at the last moment to Dr Smita Jadhav. This dashed the hopes of local leaders who had been preparing for the candidature. How united the party workers' network remained after this decision, and how much the party benefited from Sharad Lad's contacts, remain unanswered questions.

The plan to reach graduate voters, how far voter registration translated into actual voting, and the participation of the Mahayuti's constituent parties will also have to be examined. If the party's calculation was that winning the teachers' seat would bring success on the graduates' seat too, the question arises where it went wrong in recognising the different mindsets of voters on the two seats and the local equations.