Counting for the Maharashtra legislative council elections which were held on December 10 is underway. As per the initial reports, BJP candidates Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Vasant Khandelwal emerged winners in Nagpur and Akola respectively.
Chandrashekhar Bawankule defeated his nearest rival, Congress-backed independent candidate Mangesh Deshmukh. In the first-preference vote count, Bawankule got 362 votes while Deshmukh received 186. Vasant Khandelwal defeated his main rival, Maha Vikas Aghadi supported Shiv Sena nominee Gopikisan Bajoria in Akola.
The ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi suffered a big setback because the Congress, a part of this coalition, just a day before the election removed the pre-decided candidate and extended support to an independent.
Meanwhile, the former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hailed his party's victory in Nagpur and Akola in the state legislative council elections. Taking to Twitter he wrote, "Both these victories are special and the result of hard work of every Karyakarta. With these victories from Nagpur and Akola by great margins, once again, @BJP4Maharashtra proves its mettle in these #MLCElections."
The BJP won 4 out of 6 seats in the Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad, Devendra Fadnavis informed. Besides, the BJP and Shiv Sena have bagged one seat each in Mumbai. BJP also netted Dhule seat and Congress secured Kolhapur, all four unopposed owing to local-level political understandings in the biennial polls.
Nagpur and Akola-Washim-Buldhana recorded 98.93% and 98.30% voting respectively in the Maharashtra Legislative Council polls held on December 10, officials said.
