Aheri Election Result: NCP Leader Dharmarao Atram Leads

In the daughter-father face off in Aheri, Senior NCP Leader Dharmarao Baba Atram leads, while his daughter Bhagyashree Atram-Halgekar of the NCP (SP) is trailing. As Dharmarao is leading with a margin of 3,519 votes, his nephew Ambrishrao Atram contesting as an independent candidate is currently in the runner-up position.

Dharmarao Atram is a four-time MLA from Atram. He represented the constituency in 1990, 1999, 2004, and 2019. In the 2019 Assembly elections, he won the seat by securing 60,013 votes. He defeated BJP candidate Ambrishrao Satyavanrao by a margin of 44,555 votes.  Dharmarao handled Food and Drugs portfolios in the current BJP-led Mahayuti government.

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In September, posing a massive blow to Ajit Pawar-led NCP, Dharmarao’s daughter Bhagyashree left the party and joined NCP (SP). Bhagyashree is former Zila Parishad president. In the 2014 Assembly elections, she contested her debut election from Godchiroli constituency on a NCP ticket, but lost. BJP candidate Dr. Deorao Madguji Holi won the seat with 70,185 votes, defeating Bhagyashree with a margin of 18,280 votes.

When reports came up that Bhagyashree could join the rival NCP faction, Dharmarao made a controversial remark where he requested the voters of Aheri Assembly constituency to throw his daughter Bhagyashree and son-in-law Rituraj Halgekar in the river. “Don’t trust my son-in-law and daughter…These people have ditched me. Everyone should throw them in the nearby Pranhita River,” he said.

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However, with the joining of Dharmaraobaba’s nephew Ambrishrao Atram, a former BJP minister, as an independent candidate, the battle has become triangular. He is the son of Dharmarao’s elder brother Satyavan. In the Mahayuti seat-sharing agreement, he failed to procure the nomination, as the constituency was allocated to the Ajit Pawar group. Discontented, Ambrishrao quit the party and contests as an independent. According to political observers, since father and daughter likely consume each other’s vote bank, Ambrishrao’s chances of winning are higher in the father-daughter bitter battle.

The Atram family is an influential tribal dynasty in the east Vidarbha region and has been remaining a prominent political force in Gadchiroli district since 1990. Aheri is a ST reserve constituency and is a Maoist-affected area in tribal-dominated Gadchiroli district. As per local reports, sentimental elements may work in favour of Dharmarao since a section of the local population is criticising daughter Bhagyashree for leaving the old father alone for her husband.