Congress's Abhijit Wanjari wins Nagpur Legislative Council seat by 3,271 votes over BJP's Sudhakar Kohale

Congress's Abhijit Wanjari has won the Nagpur division Legislative Council election after a dramatic turn in the counting. Wanjari surged ahead during the count and was eventually declared the winner.

Counting first and second preference votes together, Wanjari received a total of 67,231 votes. BJP's Sudhakar Kohale received 63,960 votes. After the result was announced, returning officer Vijayalaxmi Bidari handed Wanjari the certificate of victory. He won by a margin of 3,271 votes.

Counting began on Tuesday at the Divisional Sports Complex in Mankapur, Nagpur, and lasted about 41 hours. Election observer Dr Harshdeep Kamble, returning officer Vijayalaxmi Bidari and other appointed officials were present at the counting centre.

No candidate could reach the winning quota in two rounds of counting of first preference votes, so an elimination round of second preference votes was held. The two first-preference rounds covered a total of 1,65,906 votes. Of these, 15,032 were found invalid, while 1,50,874 were counted as valid.

The second-preference elimination round also did not see any candidate reach the fixed quota. In the end, combining the first and second preference rounds, Wanjari won out. Wanjari, who polled 67,231 votes, was declared elected.

Nitesh Karale Guruji commented on the result. He said, "On our ballot paper, Abhijit Wanjari gets the maximum votes. Abhijit Wanjari should not take the credit himself. There was anger among people against the BJP, so the number two vote was given to Abhijit Wanjari. The BJP did not ask for the number two vote, and that proved fatal for them. Had they asked for number two, they would have got an equal number two on my ballot. Then the BJP too had a chance of winning the seat here."

Karale Guruji went on to say, "This result has brought a new chapter in Maharashtra. If you cut the seat of someone who works, people will answer him with their votes. Assembly and Lok Sabha elections should be held on ballot paper. Who Karale Master is had not been noticed so far, but now Karale Master will have to be noticed."