Latur: As the counting of ballots for the Latur City seat concluded on Saturday, Congress's Amit Deshmukh won by a margin of over 7000 votes against Dr Archana Patil Chakukar of BJP, who came first runner-up with 105,545 votes. Vinod Somprakash Khatke of Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi finished third with 26,357.
The contest was a direct fight between Amit, son of former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Union Minister late Vilasrao Deshmukh and Dr Archana.
Amit was running on the Congress ticket while Dr Archana was fielded by the BJP.
The sitting MLA, Amit was banking on the legacy of his late father, who worked extensively for Maharashtra and in particular for the Marathwada region.
The Deshmukh family has a strong connection to Latur, so Amit had the least trouble. Ritesh Deshmukh, Amit's brother and an actor, campaigned heavily for him and opposed the BJP.
Ritesh, who voted in Latur, even exuded confidence about his brother's win saying that the voters are with the Deshmukh family. Amit like his father is very soft-spoken and has a good command over the administration.
Amit is an influential leader and has a mass appeal. He was also banking on the failures of the Mahatyuti government and key issues like prices for Soyabean.
Although his victory is unsurprising, he will have to sit in opposition in the 288 legislature due to the Maha Vikas Aghadhi (MVA) coalition's setback as Mahayuti, led by the BJP, is set to form government in the state.
