Maharashtra zilla parishad polls: Voters reject nepotism; kins of minister, MLAs, dominant families lose

KOLHAPUR: Poll results of the 12 zilla parishads and 125 panchayat samitis, declared on Monday, showed that rural voters have rejected the nepotism prevailing across political parties, though there were many notable wins by the relatives of dominant politicians.

Senior BJP politician Suresh Warpudkar suffered a setback in the Parbhani ZP polls, as his son, daughter-in-law, and daughter lost the election. Contesting on BJP tickets, Warpudkar's son Samsher and daughter-in-law Prerana lost from the Shingnapur and Daithana seats, respectively. His daughter Sonal Deshmukh was in the poll fray on a Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket, but faced defeat. Former minister and former MLA from Parbhani, Warpudkar joined BJP in July 2025 after leaving Congress.

Among other notable defeats were rural development minister Jaykumar Gore's brother Arun Gore and sister-in-law Bharati Gore; Arjunsinh Mohite Patil, a member of NCP (SP)'s dominant Mohite Patil family of Akluj; NCP(SP) MLA Uttam Jankar's son Jeevan; Dhanashri, the wife of Sharad Lad from Kundal, who joined BJP recently; and Yashraj Salunkhe, the son of Dipak Salunkhe, a prominent BJP politician from Solapur.

NCP's Solapur district president Umesh Patil lost, and his brother Santosh, contesting from another ZP division, also suffered defeat. Narendra Patil, the leader of the headloaders association of Maharashtra, fielded his wife, and she suffered defeat too at the hands of Shiv Sena candidate Mrunal Mahesh Patil, who is just 22 years old.

It has been observed in the ZP elections that nepotism of one party defeated nepotism of the rival party. For instance, NCP(SP) MLA Uttam Jankar's son Jeevan was defeated by Sanskruti Satpute, the wife of former MLA Ram Satpute. Dhanashri Lad, the wife of BJP's Sharad Lad, was defeated by Congress candidate Rushikesh Lad, who is the nephew of Congress MLA Vishwajeet Kadam.

State health minister Prakash Abitkar's sister-in-law Rohini Abitkar won, and minister Bharat Gogawale's son Vikas also won.

BJP's Shirala MLA Satyajeet Deshmukh's daughter Saitejasvi Deshmukh won from the Kokrud segment of Sangli ZP. Saitejasvi did her MS from Columbia University, US. She is also the granddaughter of the former chairman of the state legislative council and Congress stalwart, late Shivajirao Deshmukh. BJP MLA Rahul Awade's daughter Sanika, who is also the daughter-in-law of independent MLA Rajendra Patil Yadravkar, won a seat for Kolhapur ZP.

Rayat Kranti Party's MLC Sadabhau Khot's daughter-in-law Mohini Sagar Khot won from the Bagni ZP seat in Sangli. Shiv Sena MLA Abdul Sattar's son Omar won from Ambhai by 3,435 votes. BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar's sister-in-law Madhavi won from the Nimbawade seat of Jat tehsil of Sangli district.

BJP's Akkalkot MLA Sachin Kalyanshetti fielded his wife Shambhavi from the Chapalgaon ZP seat, and she won. In the panchayat samiti polls, Sagar Kalyanshetti, the brother of Sachin Kalyanshetti, won. Interestingly, the BJP MLA's brother, Milan, had recently won the election to the post of president of Akkalkot Nagar Parishad.

NCP(SP) politician and former minister Harshwardhan Patil's daughter Ankita, and former minister Dilip Walse Patil's nephew Vivek won Pune ZP seats.
(With inputs from Prasad Joshi)