Two pairs of brothers enter Maharashtra Assembly

Mumbai: It is all in the family for a couple of newly-elected MLAs in Maharashtra as two pairs of brothers have made it to the legislative Assembly this time around.

Late Congress leader Vilasrao Deshmukh’s sons, Dhiraj and Amit, have emerged victorious from Latur Rural and Latur City assembly constituencies, respectively.

Whereas in Solapur district, NCP’s Baban Shinde and his brother Sanjay have won from Madha and Karmala Assembly seats, respectively.

While Baban retained his Madha seat, defeating Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Kokate by a margin of 68,245 votes, his younger brother Sanjay contested as an NCP-backed Independent in Karmala, defeating Sena rebel Narayan Patil by a margin of 5,494 votes.

Vilasrao Deshmukh’s sons will carry forward his legacy from their home turf, Latur. Vilasrao Deshmukh, who was chief minister between 1999-2003 and 2004-2008, nurtured his home district in central Maharashtra during his decades-long political career.

For Dhiraj Deshmukh, it was a maiden win by a handsome margin of 1.21 lakh votes, while Amit Deshmukh, a seasoned player in the field, retained his Latur City seat for a third consecutive term.

Among the Shinde brothers, Baban has been elected from Madha for a sixth term. Sanjay Shinde was the NCP candidate from the Madha Lok Sabha constituency where he was defeated by Ranjit Nimbalkar, who switched over to the BJP from the Congress, in May this year.

In the past, there have been father-son duos in the Lower House like Chhagan Bhujbal and his son Pankaj, and Ganesh Naik and his son Sandeep (all NCP).

The polling in Maharashtra was held on October 21 and results were announced three days later.