Maharashtra polls: State BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule narrowly trails Congress’ Suresh Bhoyar

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Maharashtra chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule was on Saturday trailing behind the Congress’ Suresh Bhoyar in the state Assembly election.

At the end of eight rounds of counting, Bawankule was trailing Bhoyar by 5,635 votes in the Kamthi constituency in the Nagpur district. The Congress candidate had won 47,264 votes, while the state BJP chief had won 41,629 votes.

However, the state’s ruling Mahayuti alliance, of which the BJP is a part, is ahead in the broader Vidarbha region in eastern Maharashtra. The Mahayuti coalition is leading in more than 40 of the 62 constituencies in the region.

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This marks a reversal of fortunes for the ruling coalition, as it had only won three out of 10 seats in the region in the Lok Sabha election held earlier this year. The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi had won seven constituencies.

The Mahayuti was on Saturday heading for a landslide win in Maharashtra, leading in 222 out of 288 constituencies. The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi was ahead in only 54 seats at 1 pm. Other parties and Independents were ahead in 11 seats.

The Bharatiya Janata Party was ahead in 127 seats, the Shiv Sena group led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in 56 and the Nationalist Congress Party group led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in 39.

In the Maha Vikas Aghadi camp, the Congress was ahead in 19 seats, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray in 18, the Congress in 17 and the Nationalist Congress Party group led by Sharad Pawar in 12.

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