Mumbai, June 4 (IANS): The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Deputy Maharashtra Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has heaved a sigh of relief after it managed to open an account following the victory of state unit president Sunil Tatkare from Raigad Lok Sabha constituency.

Tatkare won with a margin of 82,784 votes defeating Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee Anant Geete. NCP had contested and lost Baramati, Shirur and Osmanabad (Dharashiv) while leaving Parbhani to BJP's ally Rashtriya Samaj Paksha.

Tatkare, who was elected as the NCP (united) nominee in the 2019 elections defeating Geete, chalked out his campaign flagging off his slew of development work and his party's move to join hands with BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra to scale up the growth.

Knowing that the Muslims and Kunbi communities may not wholeheartedly support him after aligning with BJP, he used his personal network involving his daughter and state Cabinet minister Aditi Tatkare, and his son and party legislator Aniket Tatkare, to conduct a massive outreach.

Tatkare also got the Shiv Sena legislators including Bharat Gogawale, Mahendra Thorve and Mahendra Dalvi on board in addition to BJP legislator Ravi Patil and former legislator Dhairyasheel Patil to put up a show of unity.

This helped him to reach out to the voters from all sections by outsmarting his immediate rival Gite.

Additionally, Tatkare in every speech focused on explaining his roadmap for Raigad's development and also taking up a slew of welfare and development schemes targeting Muslim and Kunbi communities which are dominant in the Raigad constituency.

By doing so, he lured the Muslim voters in particular. Tatkare claims that he has succeeded in getting about 40 per cent Muslim votes.