The counting of votes in the bye-elections to seven Assembly seats in five states was underway on Monday.
In Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sunetra Pawar was ahead by 1,50,342 votes against New Rashtriya Samaj Party RY Ghutukade in the Baramati Assembly seat at the end of 17 rounds of voting.
There will be a total of 24 rounds of counting.
Sunetra Pawar, wife of former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, is contesting the seat following the Nationalist Congress Party leader’s death in a plane crash on January 28.
Ajit Pawar died when a small aircraft crashed near an airstrip in Baramati town during its second attempt to land after having initiated a go-around. Two pilots, a flight attendant and Ajit Pawar’s security officer were the others who died in the incident.
The cause of the crash was unclear. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, a unit of the civil aviation ministry, is investigating the incident.
On January 31, Sunetra Pawar took oath as Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister, replacing Ajit Pawar. She was also elected as the leader of the legislative party of the Nationalist Congress Party.
Ahead of the elections, Congress had announced that it would withdraw its candidate from the Baramati seat as a “mark of respect” for Ajit Pawar.
In the counting of the votes for the bye-elections on Monday, Akshay Kardile of the Bharatiya Janata Party was leading by 11,2070 votes against Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar faction) candidate Mokate Govind Khandu in the Rahuri Assembly seat.
The bye-election in Rahuri was necessitated after the death of the sitting MLA and Akshay Kardile’s father, Shivaji Kardile, in October.
The Nationalist Congress Party and the BJP are part of the state’s ruling Mahayuti coalition, which also comprises Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction. The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi comprises the Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party faction led by Sharad Pawar.
Karnataka
In Karnataka, Congress candidate Umesh Hullappa Meti secured a victory with a margin of 22,332 against the BJP’s Charantimath Veerabhadrayya in the Assembly bye-election in Bagalkot.
Twenty-three rounds of counting were conducted.
The bye-election was necessitated due to the death of HY Meti, a former minister and Umesh Hullappa Meti’s father.
The ruling Congress in the state was also leading from the Davangere South Assembly seat.
Samarth Shamanur Mallikarjuna was leading against the BJP’s Shrinivasa T Dasakariyappa by a margin of 4,873 votes after 21 out of 24 rounds of counting.
The bye-election here was conducted due to the death of Shamanur Shivashankarappa.
Gujarat, Nagaland and Tripura
In Gujarat, the BJP’s Harshadbhai Govindbhai Parmar won against Congress candidate Bhrugurajsinh Chauhan by a margin of 30,743 votes in the bye-election conducted in the Umreth Assembly constituency.
In Nagaland, BJP candidate Daochier I Imchen won against Independent candidate Toshikaba in the Koridang seat by a margin of 3,123 votes. In Tripura, the BJP’s Jahar Chakraborti won against Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate Amitabha Datta in Dharamnagar by 18,290 votes.
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