Can BJP’s Pankaja Munde maintain her family’s winning streak?

Beed, one of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra, occupies an important place in the political landscape of the state. Created in 1951, Beed was initially one of the 25 constituencies of the erstwhile Hyderabad State. Over time, it became a crucial battleground for elections, comprising six segments of the Vidhan Sabha: Georai, Majalgaon, Beed, Ashti, Kaij (SC) and Parli.

Since 2009, Beed has been a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Gopinath Munde’s victory marked the beginning of the BJP’s dominance in the region, and the party intends to continue this winning streak for the fourth consecutive term. After Munde’s untimely demise in June 2014, the seat was taken over in a 2014 by-election by his eldest daughter, Dr Pritam Munde.

Election date

The Beed Lok Sabha seat will go to polls in phase 4 on May 13. The results will be announced on June 4.
List of candidates

In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024, Beed is expected to witness an interesting contest. The BJP has nominated former state minister Pankaja Munde against NCP’s Bajrang Sonawane. Pankaja Munde, following the footsteps of his father Gopinath Munde and sister Pritam Munde, represents the BJP’s efforts to maintain its influence in the constituency.

She faces a tough challenge from Bajrang Sonawane, representing the NCP under the leadership of Sharad Pawar.

To party	Candidate
BJP	Pankaja Munde
PCN (SP)	Bajrang Sonawane

2019 results

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, BJP’s Pritam Munde retained his seat with a renewed mandate, securing a commendable tally of 678,175 votes. Bajrang Manohar Sonwane of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) came second with 509,807 votes, while Vishnu Jadhav of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) secured the third position with 92,139 votes.

To party	Candidate	Votes	%
BJP	Pritam Gopinathrao Munde	678 175	50.15
PCN	Bajrang Manohar Sonawane	509807	37.70
VBA	Professor Vishnu Jadhav	92139	6.81
INDIANA	Sampat Ramsing Chavan	16792	1.24
INDIANA	Mujib Naimuddin Inamdar	6152	0.45
NOTICED	None of the above	2500	0.18