Ajitrao Ghorpade beats Sharad Pawar camp's T.V. Patil by 4 votes in Sangli district bank poll

Results of the Sangli District Central Cooperative Bank election have been declared, with upsets on several seats. The most talked-about contest was in the Kavathe Mahankal society constituency, where former minister Ajitrao Ghorpade won. He defeated T.V. Patil, the Sharad Pawar camp's candidate.

Ghorpade received 37 votes and Patil 33, a margin of just 4. The defeat has caused a stir in the Sharad Pawar camp. Patil is said to have done a great deal of groundwork to win, and he was also expected to win, but he had to concede in a close contest.

The result in the Miraj society constituency was different. Congress's Annasaheb Kore, a close supporter of MP Vishal Patil, won there. He defeated Anil Shegunshe, a supporter of BJP MLA Suresh Khade.

In the Jat society constituency, BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar won. He received 54 votes against 34 for Vinod Pawar of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, a margin of 20 votes. The contest between Padalkar and Vinod Pawar was watched across Maharashtra. After the result, Padalkar's supporters celebrated at the counting centre. The win marks a strong entry for Padalkar into the district bank.

MLA Sadabhau Khot reacted to Padalkar's win. Khot said the victory had put a crack in the strong fort of the entrenched. According to him, the Walwa leader had turned the district bank into Ali Baba's cave, but "our tiger" had now arrived to deal with the gang of that cave. Khot also said the "Gabbar Singh of Walwa" should now be on guard.

In the same reaction, Khot targeted Jayant Patil, a leader of the Sharad Pawar camp. No response from Jayant Patil was given in the report.