Nagpur graduates' seat: BJP's Kohle confident of win, seeks recount of invalid votes

Counting for the Nagpur graduates' constituency election is under way at the Mankapur sports complex in Nagpur. BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohle and Congress candidate Abhijit Wanjari are locked in a close contest. Kohle has expressed confidence that he will win.

According to Kohle, the elimination round is currently under way. He leads by more than 4,000 votes in first-preference votes. He said he does not think Wanjari will be able to make up this lead in the counting of second-preference votes. He said the second-preference votes would also go to him and the victory would therefore be his.

Kohle said it was baffling that independent candidate Nitesh Karale had polled so many votes. He also said he did not think, at least for now, that Karale had received the votes of disgruntled elements within the BJP. Speaking on the political talk doing the rounds, he rejected that claim.

Kohle also raised objections to the counting process. According to him, a large number of his votes have been ruled invalid, and some have been declared invalid without reason. He has demanded a recount of the votes ruled invalid in the first and second rounds. He said the administration has not yet replied to this. The election machinery has not yet given any decision on the matter. In the first and second rounds together, 15,106 votes have been ruled invalid.

Meanwhile, independent candidate Nitesh Karale Guruji is emerging as the game-changer. In the second-preference count, 14 candidates have been eliminated, and Kohle's lead has narrowed somewhat as a result. Karale polled 24,249 first-preference votes. The arithmetic of victory between Kohle and Wanjari will depend on whom these votes favour more in the second-preference count. The fortunes of both the BJP and the Congress are therefore likely to be decided by these votes.

The significance of this election is not limited to Nagpur. The political fortunes of a total of 182 candidates in the fray for the state's three graduates' and two teachers' constituencies will be decided today. Who will celebrate in the tightly fought Nagpur contest is expected to be known shortly.