MUMBAI: The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance swept the biennial elections to the Maharashtra State Legislative Council (MLC), winning 16 out of the 17 seats that went to polls, as votes were counted on Monday.
Delivering a surprise win, BJP rebel Gokul Gite, who contested as an independent candidate, defeated ruling Shiv Sena’s official nominee, Narendra Darade at the Nashik constituency.
Meanwhile, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi failed to open its account in the elections, in which local body members across the state cast their votes.
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the BJP won at eleven places, while Shiv Sena won at three places, and the NCP won two seats. Out of the total 19 MLC seats, Mahayuti candidates were elected unopposed in six places.
In the Nashik seat, BJP rebel Gite, contesting as an independent, secured 357 votes, while Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena's Darade received 258 votes.
Interestingly, both the BJP and Shinde had insisted on contesting the Nashik seat. After the nomiantion was filed, the Shiv Sena had tried to put pressure on Gokul Geete to withdraw his candidature respecting alliance dharma. BJP minister Girish Mahajan and Shiv Sena minister Uday Samant held a meeting with the BJP rebel and tried to persuade him to withdraw from the fray.
Following discussions with senior leaders, Gite had stopped actively campaigning. However, his name remained on the ballot as the deadline for withdrawal had already passed.
Gite reportedly campaigned silently without catching the public eye, and on the counting day, he arrived and declared that he was very active and ready to see the results.
Shiv Sena candidate Darade accused the BJP and the NCP of keeping him in the dark and plotting a conspiracy to defeat him. He alleged that the BJP and NCP silently shifted their votes to Gite.
Meanwhile, the opposition alliance on Monday alleged that the Mahayuti had misused its power, along with money and muscle, to win all 17 seats in the MLC election.
The MVA said that the election was not held democratically and that in some places, their candidates were forced to withdraw their nominations. The opposition also alleged that in some places the authorities cancelled the nominations of their candidates on technical grounds.
