Maharashtra Election Results: Independents record their lowest-ever tally

Independents have hit a new low in Maharashtra’s electoral politics. Only 2 Independent candidates have won this year, the lowest since the first elections in 1962.

In Junnar, Sharaddada Sonavane defeated Satyasheel Sherkar of the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar by a margin of 6,664 votes. In Chandgad, Nationalist Congress Party’s Rajesh Patil lost to Independent candidate Shivaji Patil by 24,134 votes.

The previous low was recorded in the 2014 polls, when only 7 out of the 1,699 candidates could win their seats.

Over 2,000 candidates fought the 2024 polls as Independents, nearly 50% higher than in 2019, when 13 out of the 1,400 Independent candidates won.

ELECTION YEAR	INDEPENDENTS ELECTED
1962	15
1967	16
1972	23
1978	28
1980	10
1985	20
1990	13
1995	45
1999	12
2004	19
2009	24
2014	7
2019	13

Over 2,000 candidates are fighting the 2024 polls as independents. This is nearly 50% higher than in 2019, when 13 out of the 1,400 independent candidates won.

Independents have played a big role in Maharashtra’s politics, especially since 1990, when the Sharad Pawar-led Congress fell short of a majority by four seats. Back then, 12 of the 13 Independents decided to back his government.

With 3,196 candidates, the 1995 elections saw independents becoming kingmakers in Maharashtra politics. A record 45 candidates, including several Pawar loyalists who were denied tickets, won their seats. Subsequently, many independents extended their support to the Shiv Sena-BJP government. A few, like Harshvardhan Patil, Anil Deshmukh and Vijaykumar Gavit, also became ministers in the Manohar Joshi cabinet.

Independent candidates played a significant role in forming the Democratic Front government in October 1999, after the Congress and the newly-formed NCP fought the state elections separately. In the 2004 and 2009 elections, several Independents supported the Congress-NCP alliance.

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