Shiv Sena candidate Rupesh Mhatre today won the by-election from Bhiwandi East Assembly seat in Maharashtra, defeating his nearest rival Farhan Azmi of Samajwadi Party by a margin of 1,676 votes.
Mhatre bagged 35,376 votes against Azmi's 33,700.
With this win, the saffron outfit has wrested the seat, dominated by members of the minority community, from the Samajwadi Party in this district neighbouring Mumbai.
Congress candidate Muzaffar Hussain, an MLC, finished third bagging 24,418 votes.
The victory has come as a birthday gift for Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who turned 84 today.
The bypoll, held on January 20, was necessitated by the resignation of Abu Asim Azmi. The SP legislator was elected from two constituencies, Mankhurd (in Mumbai) and Bhiwandi East, in the October 2009 elections, and vacated the latter. Azmi fielded his son Farhan, a restaurateur, from the powerloom town.
Minutes after the result was announced, jubilant Sena workers burst into celebrations on Thane's streets.
Political observers say division of votes between Congress and the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led party paved the way for Sena's victory.
Sena's Yogesh Patil had won the seat in the 2004 Assembly election, but it was snatched by SP in last year's poll. The saffron party fielded a new face, Mhatre, a prominent Sena worker, to take on Farhan.
SP leader Amar Singh, who recently resigned from all party posts, campaigned for Farhan, while chief minister Ashok Chavan canvassed for Hussain.
