Nagpur graduates' seat: BJP's Kohale leads Congress's Wanjari after two rounds, second preferences to decide

All eyes in Maharashtra are on the results for five seats of the Legislative Council, three graduates' constituencies and two teachers' constituencies. Counting began at 8 am yesterday (October 27) and is still under way. The fate of 182 candidates in all is to be decided today.

The Nagpur contest is being watched especially closely. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, along with senior Congress leaders, entered the fray, making the fight tighter. In the count, BJP's Sudhakar Kohale and Congress's Abhijit Wanjari are locked in a close contest.

After the second round, Congress's Abhijit Wanjari has 56,630 votes and is trailing slightly. BJP's Sudhakar Kohale has taken the lead with 60,921 votes. At the end of the second round, Kohale is ahead by 4,291 votes.

After both rounds, 1,50,874 votes have been counted as valid. The quota needed to win has been set at 75,438 votes under the rules. Neither candidate has reached that figure, so the elimination round will now begin and second-preference votes will be counted. Counting of second-preference votes began at 6.50 pm.

Independent candidate Nitesh Karale has become pivotal in this count. He is third with 24,249 votes. Since no one has met the quota, the result will be decided by second-preference votes. How many of Karale's second-preference votes go to the BJP and Congress candidates could be the deciding factor in the Nagpur contest.

Meanwhile, BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale has demanded a recount of the votes declared invalid in the first and second rounds. The election machinery has not yet given a decision on this. In all, 15,106 votes were declared invalid across the first and second rounds. Counting in Nagpur is taking place at the Mankapur Sports Complex. It is expected to become clear shortly who will celebrate victory.