Congress' Wanjari leads BJP's Kohle by 15 votes in postal ballots in Nagpur graduates' poll

Counting for the Nagpur division graduates' constituency election to the Maharashtra Legislative Council began on Tuesday morning. In the count of postal ballots, Congress candidate Abhijit Wanjari is ahead of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Sudhakar Kohle.

A total of 238 postal ballot papers were received. Of these, 34 were declared invalid, leaving 204 valid ballots. In the count of valid postal votes, Wanjari got 101 votes and Kohle 86. The remaining candidates together got 22 votes. These figures are from the counting.

This gives Wanjari a lead of 15 votes among postal ballots. The early lead has cheered Congress leaders and workers. However, the result will be decided only after the remaining ballots are counted.

A total of 38 candidates are in the fray, and political parties across the Nagpur division are watching the contest closely.

Counting began at 8 am at the Divisional Sports Complex in Mankapur, where 84 tables have been set up. Officials first separated the postal ballot papers and checked their validity. Ballots that lacked the required declaration, were found torn or were under suspicion were kept in separate boxes for further scrutiny.

With 38 candidates, a separate box has been kept for each candidate. There is one more box for suspect ballot papers, making 39 boxes in all. Each table is expected to handle about 1,000 ballot papers at a time. In the first stage, ballots are being sorted and bundled, after which the formal count of first-preference votes will begin. According to officials, the actual counting is expected to start at about 2 pm once the initial preparations are complete.

The election follows the preferential voting system. First-preference votes will be counted first. The total valid votes will then be determined and the quota required to win calculated. If a candidate crosses the quota on first-preference votes alone, the result can be declared without counting later preferences. If no one reaches the required quota, further counting will follow the rules of preferential voting.

Party workers present at the counting centre hope the result will be decided on first-preference votes. Even so, the final decision will rest on the official counting process.

The constituency had 2,55,603 registered voters, of whom 1,65,672 voted. District-wise turnout was: Chandrapur 73.05%, Gadchiroli 72.95%, Gondia 71.29%, Wardha 68.35%, Bhandara 67.07% and Nagpur 60.35%. Chandrapur recorded the highest turnout, while Nagpur district recorded the lowest.

The count is proceeding in the set stages, and all eyes are on first-preference votes to see whether any candidate reaches the required quota. The postal ballot figures give an early indication of the contest, but the final result will be declared only after the full count and scrutiny are over.