Ajit Pawar wins sugar mill poll in Malegaon

This is the first time in four decades that Pawar has contested sugar mill polls after the mid-eighties, when he was elected to the board of directors of the Chhatrapati Cooperative Sugar Mill.

Located in Baramati, the Pawar family’s stronghold, the Malegaon factory has more than 19,000 sugarcane-producing shareholders. It is counted among the state’s most financially sound cooperatives and is central to both the local economy and regional political clout.

Pawar’s election was among the first to be declared on Tuesday because election officials only had to count 101 votes. The results for the other seats on the mill’s board were expected to take time since more than 19,000 sugarcane-growing shareholders were eligible to vote.