Nagpur graduates' seat: no one reaches quota, Kohale ahead by 4,291 as second-preference count starts

No candidate has reached the winning quota in the Nagpur graduates' constituency election to the Legislative Council. The count has moved to second-preference votes. BJP's Sudhakar Kohale leads Congress's Abhijit Wanjari by 4,291 votes after two rounds.

Counting for three graduates' seats and two teachers' seats of the Council went into a second day. The Nagpur contest has been tense and closely fought from the start. It is the home ground of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and the whole state is watching the result.

A total of 1,50,874 votes were found valid after two rounds, which sets the quota at 75,438. Neither of the two main candidates has reached it. As a result, the elimination stage has begun.

Wanjari led the first round, polling 28,998 votes against Kohale's 28,071, a margin of 927. The picture changed in the second round. Kohale got 32,883 votes and Wanjari 27,600, giving Kohale a lead of 5,283 in that round. Cumulative figures reported for the two rounds are 60,924 for Kohale and 56,630 for Wanjari. The overall lead is put at 4,291 votes. Some of the round-wise figures do not add up exactly to those totals.

Independent candidate Nitesh Karale has done far better than expected. He polled 14,708 votes in the first round and 9,541 in the second, 24,249 in all, and is third. The BJP's own early survey had put him at around 15,000 first-preference votes. It had been said since Tuesday that if he reached that mark, the second preferences of his voters would decide the seat. That now seems to be happening. No party has a firm idea which way those votes will lean. The full result is expected by Wednesday afternoon.

Turnout was 60 per cent in Nagpur. The Chandrapur, Gondia and Gadchiroli areas recorded more than 71 per cent. The BJP went into the contest united, and Fadnavis, Union minister Nitin Gadkari and Chandrashekhar Bawankule all campaigned in the final phase. Kohale had been confident of winning in the first round, but the picture kept shifting through the night.

The counting centre at Mankapur Stadium saw a few unusual scenes. When Wanjari arrived, BJP MLA Praveen Datke called out to him and the two embraced and exchanged greetings in front of workers of both parties. Outside, workers of the BJP and Congress gathered on the main road and shouted slogans from both sides. Police removed them from the spot.

Kohale said many votes had been wrongly declared invalid and demanded that they be rechecked. He was quoted as putting the quota at 15,438 and saying nobody would be able to meet it, which differs from the 75,438 worked out from the valid votes. He said "Karale Guruji" had taken more votes than expected. Kohale also warned that he would go to court if the result of the seat came out wrongly.

In the Amravati division teachers' seat, counting has run for about 23 hours. After the 19th round, Shiv Sena candidate Kiran Sarnaik leads by 3,535 votes, with 8,348 votes to his name. Shrikant Deshpande, a rebel from the Shinde Shiv Sena, is second with 4,813. Congress's Aditi Pohare is third with 4,786.