Congress's Abhijit Wanjari wins Nagpur graduates' seat as about 9,000 BJP votes are rejected

The result of the Nagpur graduates' constituency election is being discussed across the country. The counting ran for more than 40 hours. BJP's Sudhakar Kohale led at the start but fell behind in the final round.

Congress's Abhijit Wanjari polled a total of 67,231 votes, counting first and second preferences. BJP's Kohale got 63,960 votes, so Wanjari won by 3,271 votes. Independent candidate Nitesh Karale received 25,908 votes.

Many graduates voted for Kohale, but a large number of votes were declared invalid. About 15,000 votes were found invalid. It has been reported that 9,000 votes became invalid because the figure 2 was written against BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale's name. The rejection of so many votes was a big blow to the BJP.

After the defeat, Kohale gave his first reaction. He said senior party leaders would analyse it. According to him, about 9,000 BJP votes were rejected and this is why he lost. Kohale said BJP voters wrote 2 against his name in the preference order instead of 1. He also said such voting is not good for democracy.

Earlier, the BJP had put in its full strength to win the seat. All the party's leaders and its workers had joined the campaign. In the closing days, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule took to the field. Even so, the BJP lost, which is seen as a big setback for the party.

Congress has retained the Nagpur graduates' constituency seat, with Wanjari winning again. The second-preference votes received by Karale proved decisive. After the result was declared, Wanjari arrived with his family to collect his certificate of victory.