BJP victorious in Dhule MLC bypoll, crushes MVA

NASHIK: The BJP rode on cross-voting from elected representatives of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to hand the coalition a crushing defeat in the MLC (member of legislative council) by-elections from Dhule-Nandurbar on Thursday. Counting for five other MLC seats in the state was under way till late on Thursday and the results are expected only on Friday.
Despite having much fewer numbers in his support, the BJP’s Amrish Patel won against the MVA’s Abhijit Patil, a Congressman, by a whopping margin of 234 votes.
District collector Sanjay Yadav, the returning officer, said 430 of the total 434 votes cast on Tuesday were found valid. Of these, Patel garnered 332 votes and Patil got only 98 votes. The MVA has 213 elected representatives in the two districts — 157 from the Congress, 20 from the Sena and 36 from the NCP. The BJP has 199 members and the strength of other smaller parties and independents is 22.
“The results are proof that a section of the elected representatives didn’t vote for Patil. There could have been lack of coordination among the MVA partners in the run-up to the by-polls,” a senior Shiv Sena leader of North Maharashtra admitted.
This will be Patel’s third tenure as MLC. He was earlier MLA for four times from Shirpur in Dhule district before the constituency became a reserved seat.
The by-polls were held as Patel had resigned as MLC and joined the BJP last year before the state assembly elections.
Speaking to TOI, the 69-year-old Patel said his victory will usher development in the two districts.