Ahmednagar: Veteran Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat, an eight-time MLA and one of the Chief Ministerial candidates of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, was defeated by Shiv Sena candidate Amol Dhondiba Khatal by a margin of over 10,000 votes.
The Congress leader had been trailing behind Dhondiba since the counting process began this morning.
According to Election Commission of India data, at the end of the 21st round of counting, Dhondiba, who secured 112386 votes was declared the winner while Thorat has been defeated, bagging 101826 votes.
Thorat has enjoyed the support of the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) and the Shiv Sena (UBT). Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi's Abdulaziz Ahmedsharif Vohara has trailed to the third position with 2069 votes. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which does not have a good mass base here, has fielded Yogesh Manohar Suryavanshi, who has got the fourth place with 1285 votes.
Thorat's daughter Dr Jayashree Thorat had extensively campaigned for her father and so did other senior Congress leaders. It had been expected that it would be an easy win for Thorat. Also, it was felt that he could bag a key position if the Maha Vikas Aghadi wins.
During the campaign, former BJP MP Sujay Vikhe-Patil had used abusive language against Balasaheb Thorat, but the Congress leader maintained that his supporters and voters would answer the BJP through the ballot-box. He has extensively worked on the ground and is also considered to have a huge mass support.
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