SILVASSA: For the first time since its inception in the 1960s, the Shiv Sena will have an MP from outside Maharashtra with the party nominee Kalaben Delkar, wife of independent MP late Mohan Delkar, winning the bypoll to the Dadra and Nagar Haveli (ST) Lok Sabha seat on Tuesday with a margin of 51,269 votes by defeating her nearest BJP rival Mahesh Gavit.
Riding on a sympathy wave post the death of her husband, who allegedly hanged himself in a hotel in Mumbai in February, Kalaben Delkar (50) bagged 1,18,035 votes.
Gavit has polled 66,766 votes.
Congress candidate Mahesh Dhodi has polled 6,150 votes, said a statement by the Election Commission at the end of the counting on Tuesday evening.
In Mumbai, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut dedicated the party's first "historic" Lok Sabha victory outside Maharashtra to the late Bal Thackeray, the founder of the saffron party headquartered in Mumbai.
Counting of votes was held in Silvassa city of the Dadra and Nagar Haveli district, which is a part of the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Kalaben maintained the lead since the counting of votes began in the morning.
A voter turnout of nearly 75 per cent was recorded in this byelection held on October 30.
Notably, Kalaben is a third member of the influential Delkar family to be elected as MP from the UT.
While late Mohan Delkar had won the polls seven times during his political career, his father Sanjibhai Delkar was the first MP from the Dadra and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha constituency, which came into existence in 1967.
Mohan Delkar had won the 2019 election by defeating then sitting BJP MP Natubhai Patel by a thin margin of 9,001 votes.
The late MP, who had been a member of Congress and BJP at different times of his political career, was elected in 1989, 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2019.
Prima facie, factors like "sympathy wave" and the loyal vote bank went in the favour of Kalaben.
The poll outcome came as an embarrassment for BJP which had left no stone unturned to win the seat.
The saffron party had sent a host of Union ministers, including Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, Smriti Irani, Bharati Pawar and Parshottam Rupala, to campaign for Gavit.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had also visited the constituency to support the BJP candidate.
No prominent leader from Congress visited the UT during campaigning.
The Shiv Sena had sent Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray and party MP Sanjay Raut to campaign for Kalaben.
After winning the bypoll, Kalaben thanked the people of the UT and said her fight for "justice" will continue.
"I am thankful to my people as they stood by my family when we needed their support the most. I want to assure them that I will fight for the rights of the people of this region. Our fight to get justice for Mohanbhai will also continue," said Kalaben.
In Mumbai, Raut said, "It is a historic win for Shiv Sena. We would like to dedicate this victory to the late Balasaheb Thackeray. He always wanted to take Sena to other states and I can firmly say that this is a major first step in that direction."
He recalled that late Bal Thackeray had unsuccessfully campaigned in 1998 for a candidate from Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
"With this victory, Shiv Sena will march ahead strongly in other states," Raut added.