Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) leader Shrirang Barne has scored a hat-trick by defeating Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Sanjog Waghere in the Maval Lok Sabha seat.
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI) website at 5pm, Barne is leading by 96,611 votes over Waghere. Currently, Barne has 682,245 votes while Waghere has 585,634.
Barne began his political journey in 1997 as a corporator in the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) with the Congress party. He served as chairman of the standing committee of the PCMC from 1999 to 2000 and was also president of the Pimpri-Chinchwad unit of Congress from 2002 to 2007.
Barne joined the Shiv Sena in 2009 in the presence of Uddhav Thackeray. In 2012, he was elected as Sena's group leader in PCMC. Later in 2014, Barne contested the Lok Sabha polls and emerged victorious by defeating PWP candidate Laxman Jagtap and NCP nominee Rahul Narvekar. After the split in the Sena, Barne joined the faction led by Eknath Shinde.
Meanwhile, the Maval constituency, historically a Shiv Sena stronghold, witnessed an intriguing battle this time between Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena.
The constituency comprises six Assembly segments, with three falling under Pune district (Pimpri, Chinchwad, and Maval), and the remaining three (Uran, Panvel, and Karjat) under Raigad district.
