Elections 2014: Narendra Modi magic prevails in Pune; Supriya Sule survives saffron surge

PUNE: In keeping with the nationwide surge in favour of Narendra Modi, BJP wrested the Pune Lok Sabha seat from Congress which also struggled to bury the tainted past represented by the CWG scam accused and suspended party MP Suresh Kalmadi.

Even as BJP's Anil Shirole, who had lost the 2009 Parliamentary poll from Pune to Kalmadi by a narrow margin, trounced Congress nominee Vishwajeet Kadam this time by a margin of over three lakh votes, its ally Shiv Sena retained two Lok Sabha seats in this Western Maharashtra district - Maval and Shirur - with ease.

A significantly reduced winning margin of Supriya Sule - who managed to retain the Baramati seat for NCP - however, took away the shine from the victory of party President Sharad Pawar's daughter and his perceived political heir in national politics.

Sule, who had won Baramati - home turf of the Pawars in Pune district - last time with a massive margin of about 3.5 lakh votes, this time romped home defeating Mahadeo Jankar of Sena-BJP alliance by a relatively shrunk lead of 69,279 votes. Sule's reduced victory margin prompted her opponents to claim it tantamount to defeat for the Pawars in their citadel.

Shiv Sena had a reason to smile as its gamble of sidelining the sitting party MP Gajanan Babar and nominating a fresher, Srirang Barne, from Maval paid off.

Barne won the seat by over 1.5 lakh votes, defeating Laxman Jagtap, a former NCP MLC who fought the election as an Independent with support from Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

Rahul Narvekar, the erstwhile Shiv Sena spokesman who crossed over to NCP just before the elections, came a poor third in the Maval contest which had generated much interest in political circles.

Continuing his stronghold over the Shirur Lok Sabha seat, sitting Sena MP Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil retained his seat, humbling the little known NCP nominee Devdatta Nikam by a margin of over one lakh votes.