Counting of votes for the five Maharashtra Legislative Council Teachers’ and Graduates’ constituencies continued on Wednesday. Out of the five contested seats, official declarations have come in for two, yielding victories for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).

In Pune Teachers’ Constituency, the BJP nominee Kaustubh Gawade has won after defeating the Congress party’s sitting legislator and nominee Jayant Asgaonkar, and Sachin Sanap, an Independent candidate supported by Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena. With this win, Gawade has delivered a major boost to the Mahayuti coalition.

BJP had made the Pune Teachers’ Constituency poll a prestige as the election strategy was implemented under the guidance of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The party had fielded senior ministers, including Chandrakant Patil and a couple of legislators, during campaigning.

In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Marathwada) Graduates’ Constituency, NCP(SP) nominee Dr Pratapsingh Patil defeated the NCP/Mahayuti candidate Satish Chavan, who was a three-term legislator from the same seat. In addition, Raviraj Sable (Independent) and Dilip Ghuge (Shiv Sena – UBT) also lost.

Dr Pratapsingh Patil maintained a strong preference vote lead throughout counting rounds to secure the seat for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition.

NCP(SP)’s top leadership, including working president and MP Supriya Sule, former Minister Jayant Patil, state chief Shashikant Shinde, accompanied by Congress leaders, had held a series of meetings and rallies. Incidentally, Shiv Sena legislator and former Minister Abdul Sattar defied party line and supported Dr Pratapsingh Patil. Further, he also received support from disgruntled leaders of the Shiv Sena and Shiv Sena(UBT).

Counting was underway for the remaining three seats due to the preferential voting system, elimination rounds, and quota calculations.

In Nagpur Graduates’ seat, BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale holds a steady lead over incumbent Congress candidate Abhijeet Wanjari. With elimination rounds progressing, the distribution of second-preference votes will finalise the victory quota.

In Pune Graduates’ seat, the battle remains intense between Smita Jadhav (BJP) and Harshada Jadhav (NCP-SP), with second-preference counting underway.

In Amravati Teachers’ constituency, a multi-cornered contest persists among Kiran Sarnaik (Shiv Sena), Aditi Pohare (Congress), Sangita Shinde (BJP rebel) and Dattatray Lahane (Shiv Sena UBT) as officials process preference tallies.

Final official updates for Nagpur, Pune Graduates, and Amravati are expected once the second-preference elimination rounds reach the required victory quotas.

In response to widespread drought conditions across the state affecting the Kharif 2026 season, the Maharashtra government has issued an order to postpone elections for all eligible cooperative societies in drought-declared districts, effective immediately.

The decision was announced through Government Resolution (GR) by the Cooperation Department late Tuesday night. Based on evaluations under the Drought Management Code 2016 and reports from the Commissioner of Agriculture, the government initially identified Trigger-1 conditions across 265 talukas. Subsequent data incorporating Trigger-1 and Trigger-2 assessments elevated the total count to 304 drought-affected talukas across the state.

With severe drought conditions prevailing, various government departments, including Revenue, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Cooperation, Rural Development, and Water Supply, are heavily engaged in relief work. Continuing election processes would divert vital administrative staff and officials away from urgent drought mitigation efforts, said the GR.

The government noted that participating in election processes would cause significant inconvenience to farmers and members residing in drought-hit regions. While the GR halts elections across most cooperative bodies in the affected districts from their current stages until further notice, specific categories have been exempted, including Cooperative Housing Societies, any cooperative society where the High Court or Supreme Court has specifically ordered elections to be conducted and societies where the nomination stage of the election process had already commenced prior to the date of the GR.

Government sources cited examples where the politically crucial elections to the District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) were underway. “In Ahilyanagar, of the 21 seats, 11 have already been elected unopposed, but the election for the balance of 10 seats was pending. With yesterday’s GR, the elections for 10 seats have been postponed for six months. Similarly, in Satara DCCB, of the 21 seats, nine have already been elected unopposed, and now the elections for 12 seats have been postponed for six months.”

The state has previously rolled out comprehensive relief packages for the 304 affected talukas under government resolutions dated September 25 and October 14. These measures include crop loan restructuring, suspension of agricultural loan recoveries, waivers on current electricity bills for agricultural pumps, provision of drinking water via tankers, fodder availability for livestock, and expanded employment under the Employment Guarantee Scheme.

The state cabinet on Tuesday announced to pay, as an advance, Rs 5,000 to each of the 1.50 crore farmers from drought-hit districts before Diwali.

Responding to opposition pushback against the proposed Pumped Storage Hydro Project in Karjat in Raigad district, Chief Minister Fadnavis on Tuesday firmly defended the infrastructure initiative as eco-friendly and crucial for Maharashtra’s power grid stability.

While solar and wind power generate clean energy, they cannot operate 24/7. Pumped storage provides a non-polluting solution to balance renewable sources and guarantee round-the-clock uninterrupted power supply, he said.

CM’s defence comes as the project has sparked severe political friction and concern among environmentalists due to extensive tree-felling clearance required in the region.

Addressing the controversy, CM Fadnavis asserted that the opposition is politicising a vital green energy initiative without a proper understanding of the technical requirements.

CM Fadnavis said that the 3,000 MW project offsets thermal power generation that would otherwise require planting 28 crore trees to offset coal pollution.

As part of environmental mitigation, 90,000 trees will be planted by the forest department, alongside an additional 60,000 trees planted directly on the Karjat project site.

Acknowledging that some trees are being cleared, he stressed that this environmental impact is temporary. By establishing a clean energy storage system, the state is preventing thousands of times more environmental degradation in the future.

He noted that generating equivalent energy via traditional coal-based power plants would cause massive pollution—comparable to the emissions of 40 million vehicles.

Unlike conventional battery storage systems that last around 25 years, pumped storage infrastructure operates effectively for up to 80 years, protecting the environment for generations.

Explaining why solar and wind energy alone are insufficient (as they are not available 24/7 and destabilise the power grid), CM Fadnavis stated that pumped storage acts as an essential green grid-support mechanism.

He emphasised that pump-storage technology has an operational lifespan of around 80 years and is critical for securing clean power for future generations.

Refuting opposition claims, CM Fadnavis highlighted that China has developed over 60,000 MW of similar pumped storage infrastructure and emphasised that Karjat was selected through strict feasibility assessments.

Comparing the opposition’s stance to the past legal disputes surrounding the Aarey Car Shed project—which was eventually cleared by the Supreme Court—CM Fadnavis stated that the state government remains open to listening to genuine concerns, but criticised politicking around essential clean-energy infrastructure.

Addressing demands from critics to relocate the project to regions like Marathwada or Vidarbha, the Chief Minister clarified that pumped-storage infrastructure cannot be built just anywhere; it requires specific geographical terrain and topography, making Karjat an ideal site.

The state government maintains that the project is completely eco-friendly, situated outside the boundaries of the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary, and vital for Maharashtra’s sustainable energy transition.