BJP wins four of six MLC seats in Maharashtra

Mumbai: In a big setback to the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra, the BJP has made a big headway in the Legislative Council elections by winning four of the six seats. The saffron party caused an upset by winning the Akola-Buldhana-Washim seat, which was with the Shiv Sena for the past 18 years. The elections were fought by the Shiv Sena and Congress with each other’s as well as the NCP’s support.

Out of six seats, the results of four seats were decided earlier without voting. Elections were held for the Nagpur and Akola seats, which were won comfortably by the BJP. The result is seen as a jolt for the ruling MVA alliance, which lost these seats despite being in power.

The Akola-Buldhana-Washim seat’s result was a shock for the Shiv Sena as its three-time MLC Gopikishan Bajoria was defeated by the BJP’s Vasant Khandelwal by a margin of 109 votes. Of the total 808 votes, Mr Khandelwal bagged 443 votes while Mr Bajoria secured 334.

The Nagpur result was also a huge embarrassment for the Congress for the fiasco over changing its candidate at the last moment. In the end, the BJP’s Chandreshekhar Bawankule secured 362 votes, winning the seat comfortably.