Pune: After many political developments and discussions, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Pawar has lost from Kolhapur to BJP's Dhananjay Mahadik. NCP President Sharad Pawar has expressed his views on this. "I myself am not shocked by this result. If we take a look at the number of votes, then there is no difference in the quota given to Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress candidates. There is a huge gap in the sixth seat which the Shiv Sena contested."
"The number of votes was less. We tried. The independent votes for BJP were more, we had less. However, neither of us had enough independent votes. They have succeeded in taking whatever action they can to get them, and that is what makes the difference. The miracle that has happened should be acknowledged. Devendra Fadnavis's men have succeeded in doing this in various ways," Pawar has said.
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on the other hand claims that their win in the Rajya Sabha polls is a "convincing victory". He has attributed the win to meticulous planning and team work. He also took a dig at Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, saying that BJP's Dhananjay Mahadik secured more votes than him. The BJP had fielded three candidates out of the total six Rajya Sabha seats that went to polls on Friday.
"It is a convincing victory for the BJP and it is not just adding up of numbers. Had even (jailed NCP leader and Maharashtra minister) Nawab Malik been allowed to cast his vote in the election and even if Sena had not lost one of its votes, the BJP would have still won the third seat," he said. "The situation of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi is so bad that BJP's third candidate secured more votes than MVA's first candidate, Sanjay Raut." he added.
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BJP candidates - Union minister Piyush Goyal, former state minister Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik - won the fiercely-fought elections, while Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut, NCP's Praful Patel and Congress' Imran Pratapgarhi also came out victorious. The contest was for the sixth seat - between BJP's Mahadik and Sena's Pawar, who lost. Mahadik and Pawar hail from Kolhapur in western Maharashtra.
"The situation of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi is so bad that BJP's third candidate secured more votes than MVA's first candidate, Sanjay Raut." he added.
The former chief minister said that with this win in the Rajya Sabha elections, the BJP has started its victory march, which he said would continue till the next polls. "This result shows what people want in the state to happen as power was taken away from us in 2019 by backstabbing," he alleged hinting at the events that took place in the 2019 polls, where the BJP and Shiv Sena had contested the elections jointly but parted ways following the results due to differences within the two parties over sharing the Chief Minister post.
The high-stake battle for the sixth Rajya Sabha seat turned out to be a nail-biting affair with the Congress and BJP trading charges, even approaching the Election Commission, which led to an eight-hour delay in counting of votes. The poll panel directed the Rajya Sabha election returning officer of Maharashtra to reject the vote cast by Shiv Sena legislator Suhas Kande, after which the counting of votes got underway after 1 am on Saturday. (With Agency Inputs)
