16 women candidates win Maharashtra Assembly polls

MUMBAI: A total of 16 women candidates have won the Maharashtra Assembly elections.

BJP leads the pack with 10 victorious women candidates, while Congress' five women nominees have been elected.

NCP's Jyoti Kalani is the sole woman candidate elected on party ticket.

Shiv Sena and MNS have no woman representative, as per the poll results declared yesterday.

BJP's Pankaja Munde and Madhuri Misal, who were members of the outgoing Vidhan Sabha, retained their Parli and Parvati seats, respectively.

Two newcomers Manda Mhatre and Vidya Thakur emerged as 'giant killers'. Mhatre defeated Navi Mumbai strongman Ganesh Naik of NCP from Belapur and Thakur defeated senior Sena leader Subhash Desai in Goregaon.

The other victorious women from the BJP include Medha Kulkarni (Kothrud), Bharti Lavhekar (Versova), Manisha Chaudhari (Dahisar), Snehalata Kolhe (Kopargaon), Monika Rajale (Shevgaon) and Sangeeta Thombre (Kaij).

Congress' newcomer Ameeta Chavan, wife of former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, got elected from Bhokar in Nanded district.

The other four Congress women candidates who retained their seats are - former minister Varsha Gaikwad (Dharavi), Yashomati Thakur (Teosa), Nirmala Gavit (Igatpuri) and Praniti Shinde (Solapur City Central).

NCP's Jyoti Kalani won from the Ulhasnagar seat.