Will Ajit Pawar's strongman Sunil Tatkare clinch Raigad again or Anant Geete come back after 2019 drubbing?

The Raigad Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra, known for the Raigad fort and a symbol of the Maratha valour, is braced for a nail-biting contest between Sunil Tatkare, sitting NCP MP and Ajit Pawar's close associate, and former Union Minister Anant Geete, who is fighting against Tatkare on a Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket.

When the party split in 2023, Sunil Tatkare, along with other NCP leaders including Praful Patel, chose to align with Ajit Pawar. Tatkare's alignment with Ajit Pawar led to him being appointed as the State President of the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the NCP. It was Sunil Tatkare who announced the candidature of Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra from Baramati against NCP (SP)'s Supriya Sule. 

Before Tatkare won from Raigad in 2019, his opponent Anant Geete represented the constituency six times. Geete served as a Cabinet Minister in the 2014-19 Modi government and also served as a Cabinet Minister for Power in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government from 2002-04. 

What happened in 2019? 

Sunil Tatkare won the neck-and-neck 2019 Lok Sabha contest against Anant Geete with a margin of over 31,000 votes. Before Tatkare's win in the Marathi-speaking Hindu bastion, former Union minister and senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anant Geete won for two consecutive times in the 2009 and 2014 general elections from the constituency. 

Raigad's past election results 

During this time, the undivided Shiv Sena was a part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). In the 2009 elections, Anant Geete won the seat by more than 4.13 lakh votes and commanded a vote share of roughly 54 per cent.

Late former Maharashtra CM A.R. Antulay was a distant second from the constituency in his penultimate Lok Sabha election. Antulay managed to secure more than 2.67 lakh votes and a vote share of 34.80 per cent. In 2014, Geete repeated his victory from Raigad as he won a close contest against NCP's Sunil Tatkare by a margin of more than 2,000 votes. Anant Geete won this general election by more than 3.96 lakh votes and a vote share of 40.11 per cent. 

Raigad demography 

As per the 2011 census, the constituency has a total population of more than 26.34 lakh. In Raigad, around 85 per cent of the population practices Hinduism whereas 8.64 per cent of them practice Islam. Around 5 per cent make up other religious groups including Buddhism, Christianity and Jainism. 

Around 84.12 per cent of Raigad's total population resides in rural areas while roughly 15.88 per cent of the constituency's total population resides in urban areas. Among the total population, the scheduled castes (SCs) comprise 3.93 per cent and scheduled tribes (STs) make up 9.49 per cent. 

Raigad assembly segments 

Raigad Lok Sabha constituency comprises of six Assembly segments across two districts-- Pen, Alibag, Shrivardhan, Mahad, Dapoli and Guhagar.

Raigad polling dates

Raigad will go to polls on May 7 in the third phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls 2024. Other constituencies in Maharashtra that will go to polls during this period are Baramati, Dharashiv, Latur (SC), Solapur (SC), Madha, Sangli, Satara, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Kolhapur and Hatkanangle.