NCP (SP) candidate Pratapsingh Patil wins Aurangabad graduates' seat by 18,124 votes

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Oct 29: Dr Pratapsingh Vedprakash Patil, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidate, has won the Legislative Council election from the 05-Aurangabad Division Graduates' Constituency. He won by a margin of 18,124 votes. In the final count, Dr Patil polled 85,876 votes, while Satish Bhanudasrao Chavan of the Nationalist Congress Party got 67,752.

The result was settled after 39 candidates were eliminated and votes transferred according to preferences. After the Election Commission of India approved the next stage of the process, Returning Officer and Divisional Commissioner G. Shrikant declared Dr Patil the winner at 5.10 am on Thursday, October 29. He handed Dr Patil the certificate of victory. Election Observer Madhavi Khode-Chavare, the collectors of the districts concerned, chief executive officers of the zilla parishads and officials connected with the election were present.

The counting was held at Resonate Logistics LLP in the Chikalthana MIDC area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, under the supervision of Divisional Commissioner G. Shrikant and Election Observer Madhavi Khode-Chavare. Polling had taken place at 842 polling stations in eight districts: Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna, Beed, Parbhani, Hingoli, Nanded, Latur and Dharashiv. A total of 41 candidates were in the fray and 70 tables were set up for counting.

Ballot papers were first verified and sorted. Counting of first-preference votes was then completed in three rounds. In the first round 70,519 ballot papers were counted, and by the end of the second round a total of 1,40,543 had been counted. According to the figures, 1,77,115 votes were valid and 16,540 invalid. On the basis of the valid votes, a quota of 88,558 votes was fixed for victory.

At the end of the first-preference count, Dr Pratapsingh Patil had 73,931 votes, Satish Chavan 60,768, independent candidate Raviraj alias Annasaheb Sawale-Patil 19,835 and Dilip Ghuge 8,439. No candidate reached the quota. Under the election rules, the candidates with the fewest votes were therefore eliminated stage by stage, and votes on their ballot papers were transferred to the others according to the next available preference.

From Dilip Ghuge's ballot papers, 2,285 votes went to Dr Patil and 1,881 to Satish Chavan. At the 39th elimination, from Raviraj Sawale-Patil's ballot papers, 6,469 votes went to Dr Patil and 3,241 to Satish Chavan. With 39 of the 41 candidates eliminated, only Dr Patil and Chavan remained. No one had completed the quota even at that stage.

The counting, which began at 8 am on Tuesday, October 27, ran continuously for more than 45 hours until the final result was announced early on Thursday. Verification, sorting, first-preference counting, elimination of candidates, transfer of votes, checking of the final figures and finalisation of the result were all done under the supervision of the returning officer and the observer. Counting supervisors, assistants, sub-divisional officers, tehsildars, naib tehsildars and officials and employees from various departments worked in coordination under G. Shrikant's guidance.

Police had made security arrangements to maintain law and order at the counting centre and in the surrounding area. Officials, staff, attendants and contract workers assigned to facilities, material, cleanliness and other arrangements also cooperated. Returning Officer G. Shrikant thanked the election observer, all officials and employees involved in the counting, the police administration and the supporting agencies.