MUMBAI: The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance suffered a setback in the biennial elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Council, winning two of the five seats, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi secured three.
The BJP contested three seats but won only one, while its ally Shiv Sena contested two and won one. Among the opposition parties, the NCP (SP) contested two seats and won both, while the Congress contested two and won one.
The BJP suffered a major setback in Nagpur, the hometown of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), where Congress candidate Abhijeet Wanjari defeated BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale in a closely fought contest for the Graduate constituency seat.
The Nagpur Graduate constituency result unfolded like a thriller, with the suspense lasting until the final round of counting. In the first round of first-preference votes, the Congress candidate secured more votes than his BJP rival. However, the BJP candidate moved ahead on second-preference votes.
Neither candidate secured the required quota, forcing the count to proceed to the third-preference stage. Votes from NCP (SP) rebel and independent candidate Nilesh Karande's second-preference ballots were then counted. Wanjari narrowed the gap with Kohale and eventually won by 2,500 votes.
Independent candidate Nilesh Karande had sought to dent the Congress candidate's prospects in the Nagpur Graduate constituency by drawing 25,000 anti-BJP votes. However, Wanjari secured more second-preference votes from Karande's ballots than the BJP candidate, changing the outcome of the contest.
Fadnavis celebrates early, eats humble pie
Fadnavis faced embarrassment after celebrating the Mahayuti alliance's performance before all the votes had been counted and the results declared. Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ridicule, Fadnavis tweeted that the Congress had got "big fatty zero" in the MLC elections.
Within an hour of his tweet, however, Wanjari, who had been trailing, began to recover ground and was declared the winner after defeating Kohale in Nagpur, the chief minister's hometown and the RSS headquarters. Fadnavis was subsequently forced to delete his tweet.
The Election Commission of India held elections for five Legislative Council seats: the Pune Graduate and Teachers constituencies, the Nagpur Graduate constituency, the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduate constituency and the Amravati Teachers constituency. A total of 182 candidates contested the five seats.
In the Pune Graduate constituency, NCP (SP) candidate Harshada Deshmukh defeated BJP candidate Smita Jadhav. It was one of the closest contests, with Deshmukh securing victory over Jadhav.
In the Pune Teachers constituency, BJP candidate Kaustubh Gawade defeated Sachin Sanap, an independent candidate supported by Shiv Sena.
In the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduate constituency, NCP (SP) candidate Dr Pratrap Sinh Patil defeated sitting NCP MLC Satish Chavan and Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Dilip Ghughe in a closely fought contest.
The NCP's defeat in the constituency did not go down well with the party leadership. NCP leader Praful Patel criticised the party leadership, calling for introspection and efforts to build and strengthen the party's base.
In the Amravati constituency, Shiv Sena candidate Kiran Sardesai defeated Congress candidate Aditi Pohare and Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Duttraya Lahane.
