In bitterly fought Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll in Maharashtra, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Rajendra Gavit defeated rival Shiv Sena candidate.
BJP's nominee, Rajendra Gavit, secured 2,72,780 votes while Shiv Sena's Shrinivas Wanaga polled 2,43,206 votes.
Baliram Jadhav, the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi candidate was at the third place with 2,22,837 votes.
"My victory was possible due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, Devendra Fadnavis' development vision and all the efforts put by BJP and Republican party workers" As many as 7 candidates were in the fray for Palghar seat.
In Palghar, the bypoll was necessitated following the death of sitting BJP MP Chintaman Wanaga. The BJP's bickering ally Shiv Sena has fielded the late MP's son, Srinivas Wanaga, in a bid to garner the sympathy vote.
Ahead of the result, in a virulent attack on the Election Commission (EC) over complaints of malfunctioning of EVMs and VVPAT machines in bypolls, the Shiv Sena dubbed the poll panel, democracy and elections as 'mistress' of those in power.
Unsparing in its criticism of ally BJP, the Sena alleged that the ruling party, which, it said, has an 'autocratic mindset', has corrupted the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to serve its own purpose.The polling, held on Monday, was marred by allegations of malfunctioning in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines.
During the election campaign, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had released a video of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis asking Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers to use all possible means to win the Palghar Lok Sabha seat. However, the BJP later alleged that the clip has been tampered with.
