Nagpur graduates' seat: Kohale leads Wanjari by 3,494 votes, no one reaches quota, 21 candidates out

Nagpur, October 28: Counting in the Nagpur division graduates' constituency election has reached a decisive stage. The contest between the BJP's Sudhakar Kohale and the Congress's Abhijit Wanjari is extremely close. Neither has reached the quota needed to win outright, so the counting of second-preference votes will now be decisive.

After two rounds of counting first-preference votes, Kohale leads with 60,124 votes. Wanjari is second with 56,630 votes. A total of 1,65,909 valid votes have been recorded in the constituency.

Wanjari is said to have had a slight lead in the first round, which raised hopes in the Congress camp. In the second round, however, Kohale surged ahead and built a lead of about 3,500 votes over his rival. According to the latest figures, Kohale is ahead by 3,494 votes. This has set the stage for the counting of second preferences.

Nitesh Karale, a rebel candidate of the Nationalist Congress Party who is known as Karale Guruji, has emerged as an important factor in the election. He has received 24,249 first-preference votes.

Besides Kohale and Wanjari, 21 of the remaining 35 candidates have been eliminated under the applicable counting rules. According to the available figures, the other candidates together have received about 7,000 votes.

As neither of the two leading candidates has reached the quota required to win, the process of elimination has begun and second-preference votes are being counted.

In the initial count of second-preference votes, Kohale received 56 votes, Wanjari 63 and Karale 48.

If Karale is eliminated, the key question is who will get his second-preference votes. Where these votes go could have a major bearing on the final result.

As the remaining preferences are counted, both the BJP and Congress camps will be watching closely. The final result will depend on the counting and the transfer of votes, and on whether either of the two reaches the quota.

The race in the Nagpur division graduates' constituency remains open. The counting of second-preference votes will decide who becomes the next legislator.