Maharashtra Assembly Election 2019, Ballarpur profile: State finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar eyes hat-trick, but 'failed' liquor ban could spoil chances

Ballarpur Assembly Election 2019| The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the dates for the Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections. Voting for the 288-member Assembly will be held on 21 October in a single phase. The counting of votes and final results will be declared on 24 October, authorities said. The term of the Devendra Fadnavis-led current Maharashtra Assembly will end on 9 November.

The notification and nomination process for the Assembly election was issued on 27 September. Candidates filed their nominations latest by 4 October. The scrutiny of nomination papers was done on 5 October and the last date to withdraw candidature from the electoral battle was 7 October. A total of 95,473 polling stations will be set up for over 8.95 crore voters in Maharashtra.

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There is one reserved seat under the Scheduled Caste category in the Chandrapur district — Chandrapur (SC).

File image of Sudhir Mungantiwar. News18

Constituency Name—Ballarpur

Constituency Number—72

District Name—Chandrapur

Total Electors—319956

Female Electors—156271

Male Electors—163684

Third Gender—1

Reserved—No

Results in previous elections—In 2009, Sudhir Sachchidanand Mungantiwar of BJP won this seat with 86,196 votes against Rahul Naresh Pugliya of Congress who netted 61,460 votes. In 2014, BJP MLA Mungantiwar retained this seat receiving a total of 1,03,718 votes against Congress candidate Ghanshyam Khushimal Mulchandani who netted 60,118 votes.

In the 2019 election, Congress candidate Vishwas Anandrao Zade will take on sitting BJP MLA Mungantiwar.

Mungantiwar was the state finance and planning and forest minister in Devendra Fadnavis cabinet. His plan to implement prohibition in the entire Chandrapur district and its subsequent failure due to availability of illegal liquor could spoil his chances of a third consecutive win from Ballarpur Assembly constituency. If he retains the seat, this would Mungantiwar's sixth consecutive win as an MLA.