Kohle overtakes Wanjari by 4,294 votes after second count in Nagpur graduates' poll

BJP candidate Sudhakar Vitthalrao Kohle has gone ahead of Congress sitting MLA Abhijit Govindrao Wanjari in the Nagpur division graduates' constituency election after the second round of counting, according to figures released by election officials on October 28, 2026. No one has yet reached the quota needed to win, so the result is still open.

Kohle now has 60,924 votes in all. He polled 28,071 in the first round and added 32,853 once second preferences were distributed. Wanjari's total is 56,630, made up of 28,998 in the first round and 27,632 in the second. That puts Kohle 4,294 votes in front. The order was reversed after the first round, when Wanjari led by 927. In the second round alone, Kohle collected 5,221 more votes than Wanjari.

Independent Nitesh Balkrishnaji Karale, a rebel from Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, remains third with 24,249 votes (14,708 in the first round and 9,541 in the second). Among the others, Sanjay Thul has 3,091, Sumedh Gadpayale 1,096, Mangesh Wankhede 1,029, Atul Deshmukh 921 and Dhananjay Borkar 849. Thirty-eight candidates are in the fray in all.

The Election Commission has fixed the quota at 75,438, which is half of the valid votes plus one. After the second round, the valid votes stand at 1,50,874 and rejected votes at 15,032, making 1,65,906 in all. Kohle still needs 14,514 votes to reach the quota and Wanjari needs 18,808. Counting may therefore move to a third round, or the votes of the candidates at the bottom may be transferred again.

The numbers suggest that most of Karale's second preferences went to the BJP, which explains Kohle's jump. The full preference-wise transfer data would be needed to confirm exactly where his gain came from.

The first-preference count was far closer. The official sheet recorded 84,003 votes, of which 76,875 were valid and 7,128 invalid. Early in the day, an unofficial first-round tally had put Wanjari on 28,536, Kohle on 27,751 and Karale on 14,243, but those numbers were never confirmed and the official sheet replaced them. One early report also had Kohle leading after the first round by about 4,000 votes. The official first-round sheet shows otherwise, and the 4,294-vote lead belongs to the second round.

Counting began on Tuesday at the Divisional Sports Complex in Mankapur, with 84 tables set up and a separate box for each of the 38 candidates plus one for doubtful ballots. It started with 238 postal ballots, of which 34 were invalid. Of the 204 valid ones, Wanjari got 101, Kohle 86 and the rest together 22, giving Wanjari a 15-vote lead there. By the halfway stage of the general count, Wanjari was reported to be ahead by about 7,000 to 8,000 votes, and the result was expected only by Wednesday morning.

The constituency has 2,55,603 registered voters, of whom 1,65,672 voted. Turnout was highest in Chandrapur at 73.05 per cent, followed by Gadchiroli at 72.95, Gondia at 71.29, Wardha at 68.35 and Bhandara at 67.07. Nagpur district was lowest at 60.35 per cent.

The seat is a matter of prestige for the BJP. Wanjari took it from the party last time, defeating Sandip Joshi with 61,701 votes to 42,791, a margin of 18,919. That win was the first for Congress here since 1978. To win back the rebel Anil Sole, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is from Nagpur, camped in the city for two days and called at Sole's home. Karale had claimed he would get 40,000 to 45,000 votes in the first round itself, a figure the count did not bear out. Political observers say his candidature has hurt both major parties. The next stages of counting will show whether Kohle can hold on to his lead.