Congress's Abhijit Wanjari wins Nagpur graduates' seat after 41-hour count

Congress candidate Abhijit Wanjari has won the Nagpur Divisional Graduates' Constituency election. The result came after a count that ran for more than 41 hours. Wanjari polled 67,231 votes, while BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale got 63,960.

Nagpur, October 29: Returning officer and Divisional Commissioner Vijayalakshmi Bidari handed Wanjari the certificate of victory after the result.

Counting began at 8 am on October 27 at the Divisional Sports Complex in Mankapur, where 84 tables had been set up. The process ran for more than 41 hours until the result was declared.

Election observer Dr Harshdeep Kamble was present during the count, as were the assistant returning officers and district collectors of the districts concerned.

No candidate reached the required quota of 75,438 votes in the round counting first-preference votes, so the outcome had to be decided on the basis of preferential voting.

A total of 1,65,906 first-preference votes were counted. Of these, 15,032 were declared invalid, leaving 1,50,874 valid votes.

Second-preference votes were then counted, but no candidate reached the quota even after that. The first- and second-preference votes were then added together and compared. In this combined tally Wanjari got the most votes and was declared elected.

The final figures were 67,231 votes for Congress's Abhijit Wanjari and 63,960 for BJP's Sudhakar Kohale.

On the election schedule, the Election Commission of India announced the programme on September 22. The notification was issued on September 29. Polling was held on October 23 from 8 am to 4 pm. Counting began on October 27 and was completed after more than 41 hours. The Commission had set October 31 as the deadline for completing the entire election process.