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 by 3217 votes in a closely fought contest for the Graduate constituency seat. Mr Wanjari secured total 67,231 votes against BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale who bagged 63,960 votes.
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. Interestingly, in Nagpur graduate constituency, 15,032 votes were declared invalid while surprisingly, over 5000 voters rather than putting preference as one, they wrongly or mischievously put the preference – two and that votes turned invalid in counting.
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 Pune Division Teachers constituency, BJP candidate Kaustubh Gawade won by 6,770 votes against the Independent candidate Sachin Sanap. Mr Gawade secured total 23,117 votes while defeated candidate Independent candidate Sachin Sanap bagged the 16,347 votes. Shiv Sena rebelled and extended its support to Mr Sanap in this MLC polls.
In the Amravati Division Teachers constituency, Shiv Sena candidate Kiran Sarnaik won by 8,027 votes against the Congress candidate Aditi Pohare. Mr Sarnaik secured total 16,663 votes against Congress candidate Aditi Pohare who got 8,636 votes while in Pune Division Graduates constituency, NCP SP candidate Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav won by 9928 votes against the BJP candidate Dr Smita Jadhav. Ms Deshmukh Jadhav secured total 1,13,840 votes while her nearest opponent BJP candidate Dr Smita Jadhav bagged 1,03,912 votes.
In Aurangabad Division Graduates constituency, NCP SP candidate Dr Pratapsinh Patil won by 18,124 votes against the NCP candidate Satish Chavan, Dr Pratapsinh Patil secured total 85,876 votes against his nearest rival defeated NCP candidate Satish Chavan who got 67,752 votes.
