BJP's Kaustubh Gawde set to take Pune teachers' seat, Sanap concedes with 6,200-vote gap

BJP candidate Kaustubh Gawde is all but certain to be declared the winner of the Pune teachers' constituency election. Only the formal announcement remains. Gawde holds first place in the count, and Sachin Sanap, the independent backed by Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, is second, 6,200 votes behind. Dattatray Sawant, who was third, has been knocked out of the count. Sanap's votes are still being counted.

The count began with a fixed target. Of the 51,511 valid first-preference votes, the quota needed to win was set at 25,756. Gawde, whose name is also spelt Gawade in some reports, led from the first round. Congress candidate Jayant Asgaonkar, the Maha Vikas Aghadi's man in the fray, was eliminated in the fourth round. His votes were then transferred, and officials were checking whether they would change the totals of Sanap and Sawant. That check was to decide who would go out next, after which the final result would emerge.

As the outcome became clear, Sanap spoke to the media and congratulated Gawde, the winner-to-be. He said the real contest had been between the two of them from the start, so there was no question of votes splitting. By his own account, he had received more than 17,000 votes from fellow teachers, though final figures were awaited. He noted that the constituency is vast, covering five districts and 58 tehsils, and that the time available was short. Even so, teachers placed their trust in him and he gave it everything.

Sanap thanked Shinde, Uday Samant, Shambhuraje Desai, Prakash Abitkar, the Shiv Sena and its legislators, MPs and office-bearers for putting their weight behind him. He said the support of Shinde and the party at the last moment felt like a blessing and carried him far. He said he was especially indebted to Shinde and above all to Uday Samant, and he said Kiran Samant, Desai, Abitkar and Dadasaheb Bhuse had also tried to back him. Any shortfall, he said, was his own. He described the election as fought in a cordial atmosphere and called himself a newcomer who made a good first attempt and fell a little short.

Asked about allegations that money had been given and taken, Sanap said nobody should try to defame teachers. He called the fight one for their self-respect and dignity. Those who used pressure or inducements might taste success today, he said, but he would carry what is in people's minds forward through change and agitation. He said everyone knows the reasons behind the mandate and which forces worked in which way, but it would not be right to speak on that. The mandate, whatever it is, must be accepted, he said.

He admitted that some shortcomings may have remained and that efforts to reach some sections of voters fell short, which he would correct in future. His one regret, he said, was that teachers did not send a teacher to the legislature. He expressed confidence that teachers would grow more aware and join the fight, and said his work on their issues would go on with more strength.

The seat had been a source of friction between Shinde's Shiv Sena and the BJP, making this a friendly contest between the two allies. The Shiv Sena first nominated Mangesh Chivte, who also filed his nomination papers, but he later withdrew, and the party then backed Sanap. Chivte had spent two to three years preparing for the election and had to step back at the last moment. The seat was a matter of prestige for the Shiv Sena, though the BJP is the stronger party in Pune. Before the result, the real fight was seen as being among Gawde, Sanap and Asgaonkar.

Ravindra Dhangekar, a Shinde Shiv Sena leader in Pune who has been attacking the BJP continuously, did so again on the day of the result. He said: "Today, in fact, democracy will win. These are citizens who exchange ideas, and they must have voted after careful thought. We are hearing talk of crores of rupees, lakhs of rupees being spent. Today's result will go in favour of teachers and graduates."

The constituency had 61,940 registered voters. Polling was held on October 23 from 8 am to 4 pm, and turnout was 85.87 per cent.

Counting for the Pune graduates' constituency was running alongside, and no candidate had reached the quota of 1,13,095 votes even after the first-preference count. Preference votes were being counted, and 21 candidates had been eliminated. After the 21st elimination round, Maha Vikas Aghadi candidate Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) had 1,11,279 votes. BJP's Dr Smita Yogesh Jadhav had 1,02,427. Deshmukh-Jadhav was ahead by 8,852 votes and needed 1,816 more to reach the quota. She took a big lead in the first round and has held it throughout, with Smita Jadhav second.

Among the others, Sunil Jabarchand Modi of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction) was third with 3,066 votes. Somnath Janardhan Salunkhe had 2,638, Namdevrao Jadhav 1,955 and Laxman Sahebrao Haranwal 1,472. Counting in both constituencies was nearing its final stage, and the final results were expected by afternoon.