Not a reflection of public mood, but win will bolster ruling parties' numbers in upper house
Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray addresses a campaign rally for Palghar Assembly by-poll, in Palghar, Maharashtra, on Thursday. Pic/PTI
While the BJP has retained two seats, its ruling partner Shiv Sena added two more members to the Upper House in the local self-government constituency elections; NCP bagged one seat. Of the six seats, the results of five were declared on Thursday, the sixth segment has been stayed by the high court over some problems during polling.
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These elections do not really reflect the mood of the general public, but will help the BJP and Sena get the upper hand in the Legislative Council where the Congress and NCP have greater numbers. More numbers are expected to come in the BJP-Sena's favour when the teachers'/graduates' and Assembly members' constituencies go to the polls on June 25, and in July, respectively.
The biggest shock any party could receive in these elections was cross-voting in Amravati, in which a Congress candidate Anil Madhogariya got only 17 votes even the Cong-NCP got 140 votes. BJP's minister of state for PWD Pravin Pote-Patil (458 votes) won with a margin of 441.
However, in neighbouring Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli, things appeared somewhat difficult for its veteran leader Ramdas Ambatkar (528) who managed to beat Congress's Indrakumar Saraf (491) by a mere 37 votes.
Sena rejoiced its double win against the odds placed in its way, in particular by BJP, in Nashik and Parbhani-Hingoli. The two parties had shared seats, but the recent developments in Palghar had an effect in the segments they contested.
In Nashik, Sena's Narendra Darade (412) beat NCP's Shivaji Sahane (219) by 193 votes, despite his opponent getting BJP's support. In Parbhani-Hingoli, the Sena had imported a cash-rich candidate from Akola, Viplav Bajoria (whose father is an MLC), to fight against Congress's Suresh Deshmukh. Bajoria (256) beat Deshmukh (221) by 35 votes.
The NCP, too, was at the receiving end, but it salvaged some pride in the Konkan (Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg) where senior NCP leader Sunil Tatkare's son Aniket Tatkare (620) won handsomely against the Sena's Rajiv Sabale (306) by 314 votes. Here, a BJP ally, Narayan Rane, played a major role by supporting the NCP. Sources said BJP members, especially from Panvel Municipal Corporation, voted en masse for Tatkare.
Going by the trend, the BJP is expected to win the Beed-Usmnabad-Latur seat as well. The results there will be declared once the Bombay High Court allows the counting of votes.
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