The BJP’s key leaders in Maharashtra secured comfortable victories. Devendra Fadnavis, BJP State chief, and the front runner for the Chief Minister’s post, muscled out his nearest rival, the Congress’ Prafulla Vinod Gudadhe by 58942 votes to retain Nagpur south-west. Mr. Fadnavis secured 1,13,918 votes improving from his 2009 tally of 89,258.
Former leader of opposition in the Legislative Council, Vinod Tawde, also thumped his opponent from the Shiv Sena Uttamprakash Agarwal to secure Borivali in suburban Mumbai. Contesting his first election, Mr. Tawde, the Maratha face of the BJP, scored a massive 1,08,278 votes to defeat his nearest rival by a huge margin of 79,267 votes. Another key leader, daughter of Gopinath Munde, Pankaja Munde, resisted a strong fight from her estranged cousin Dhananjay Munde to win in Parli. Ms. Munde secured 96,804 votes to win by 25,000 votes. Her margin of victory was over 36,000 in 2009.
Ms. Munde entered the fray for the top post by saying it was the wish of her father's supporters and the youth of Maharashtra that she be chosen for the post.
Eknath Khadse, the veteran BJP man from North Maharashtra, and Leader of opposition in Legislative Assembly, however didn’t get a similar margin of victory. He was initially trailing from Muktainagar but managed to hold his ground to win by just over 9,000 votes. He secured 85, 657 votes to defeat the Sena, which had led an aggressive campaign against him. He is also considered a contender for the Chief Minister's post but his ill health might minimize his chances. Sudhir Mungantiwar, former BJP state president, won the Ballarpur seat beating the Congress’ Mulchandani Ghanshyam Khushimal by 43,000 votes.
