Sugar mill election: Ajit Pawar wins his seat; his panel leads after first round

Pune, Jun 24 (PTI) The Nilkantheshwar panel led by Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was leading in the election to the Malegaon cooperative sugar mill in the district, where a group supported by his estranged uncle Sharad Pawar too is in the fray.

Ajit Pawar himself won his seat earlier in the day, while his panel was leading on five seats after the completion of the first round of counting.

Besides the Nilkantheshwar panel -- which currently holds power in the sugar factory -- and the Chandrarao Tawre-led Sahakar Bachav panel, the Baliraja Sahakar panel floated by Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) is a third contender.

The election was held with ballots and as the counting process is manual, it will take time to declare the results of all 20 seats, a poll official said. Results are expected by Wednesday morning.

Ajit Pawar, who is the president of the Nationalist Congress Party, decided to stand for a cooperative mill's election after four decades.

The election for 21 places on the board of directors was held on Sunday. There are a total of 19,549 voters in group 'A' comprising sugarcane cultivators from the region, while 102 voters are in group 'B', which consists of members from various cooperative bodies affiliated to the sugar mill.

Sharad Pawar had said if the ruling panel backed by Ajit Pawar had taken the people associated with the NCP (SP) along, there would have been no need for his party to float a rival panel.

Ajit, on the other hand, told reporters in Mumbai that no senior leader from NCP (SP) spoke to him in this regard. PTI SPK GK KRK