<p>The Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) candidate, Harshada Jadhav-Deshmukh, on Wednesday defeated BJP candidate Dr Smita Jadhav in the Pune Graduates&rsquo; constituency in recently held <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/maharashtra-legislative-council-elections-2026-congress-gears-up-for-polls-appoints-senior-leaders-as-coordinators-23596542" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Legislative Council elections</a> in the state.</p>
<p>Deshmukh secured 1,11,717 votes against Jadhav&rsquo;s 1,02,797 at the end of the 39th round of counting. Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Sunil Modi polled around 3000 votes.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Setback to BJP</h2>
<p>The defeat is significant, as the BJP had backed Jadhav in its bid to wrest the Graduates&rsquo; Constituency from the NCP-SP. The final formal declaration of Harshada Jadhav-Deshmukh&rsquo;s victory was awaited at the time of reporting.</p>
<h2>Family&rsquo;s pride</h2>
<p>Deshmukh&rsquo;s victory also fulfils a long-standing political aspiration in her family. Her father, retired IAS officer Prabhakar Deshmukh, had contested the 2019 Assembly election from the Man-Khatav constituency <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/maharashtra-weather-update-thane-raigad-pune-satara-under-yellow-alert-thunderstorms-gusty-winds-likely-says-imd-23652641" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">in Satara district </a>as an independent candidate but lost by around 3000 votes. His daughter has now won her maiden election.</p>
<h2>Who is she?</h2>
<p>An engineer by qualification, Harshada Jadhav-Deshmukh graduated in mechanical engineering from VIT, Pune. She later completed an MSc in Finance and Management from Cranfield University in the UK and an ME from Savitribai Phule Pune University.</p>

NCP-SP candidate Harshada Jadhav-Deshmukh defeats BJP-backed Smita Jadhav in the Pune Graduates’ constituency, securing over 1.11 lakh votes

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Harshada Jadhav-Deshmukh wins maiden election, defeats BJP-backed rival in Pune

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