Looking at the electoral history of the Ramtek Legislative Assembly constituency, one notable pattern emerges: whenever a leader has rebelled against their party or alliance and contested the election as an Independent candidate, they have either won or prevented the official party candidate from winning. A review of election history reveals the following: In 1995, Congress leader Ashok Gujar, from the faction led by the late Babasaheb Kedar, sought the Congress ticket to contest the elections. However, the party denied him the ticket and nominated Anandrao Deshmukh from the faction of former minister and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) President Ranjit Deshmukh. In response, Gujar rebelled and contested as an Independent candidate. He won the election and defeated Congress candidate Anandrao Deshmukh by a margin of 12,523 votes. Gujar secured 52,428 votes (36.26%), while Deshmukh received 39,905 votes (27.06%).

 

The voter turnout in 1995 was 77.5%. In 2004, senior Congress leader and former minister Madhukarrao Kimmatkar, like Gujar, sought the Congress nomination but was instead denied, with the party opted to field Chandrapal Chouksey. In protest, Kimmatkar rebelled and contested as an Independent candidate. Though he did not win, Kimmatkar’s presence in the race ensured that the Congress candidate Chouksey lost as well. Chouksey received only 23,904 votes, and for the first time in the constituency’s history. In 2019, an alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the undivided Shiv Sena resulted in the Ramtek seat being allocated to the BJP.

 

 

The BJP nominated D Mallikarjuna Reddy, an incumbent MLA, as its candidate. However, Ashish Jaiswal, an MLA from 1999, 2004, and 2009, rebelled after the Shiv Sena quota did not grant him a seat. Jaiswal contested as an Independent and defeated the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance candidate Reddy by a margin of 24,413 votes. Jaiswal secured 67,419 votes (36.54%), while Reddy received 43,006 votes (23.31%). Voter turnout in 2019 was 66.22%. In a repeat of past rebellions, the 2024 elections in Ramtek saw former Congress President and ex-minister Rajendra Mulak’s protest against the seat-sharing arrangement in the Maha Vikas Aghadi. Mulak was upset that Ramtek was allocated to Shiv Sena (UBT) and entered the race as an Independent candidate. He faces competition from Shiv Sena (Shinde) candidate Ashish Jaiswal, Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Vishal Barbate, Congress rebel Chandrapal Chouksey, Congress rebel Sachin Kirpan (Chairman of APMC), and 13 other candidates. It remains to be seen whether Mulak can replicate the success of his predecessors after the vote count on November 23.