Rajya Sabha Polls: Fadnavis Says Elections Are Contested For 'Victory' As BJP Wins 3 Of 6 Seats In Maharashtra

The BJP winners include Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde, and Dhananjay Mahadik. Devendra Fadnavis's refusal to have a consensus candidate led to RS elections in the state after 24 years.

New Delhi: In a setback for Maharashtra's ruling alliance of Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress, the BJP on Saturday won three out of the six Rajya Sabha seats in the state, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi questioned the eight-hour delay in the counting of votes. The BJP winners include Union Minister Piyush Goyal, former state minister Anil Bonde, and Dhananjay Mahadik. On the other hand, MVA has Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut, NCP's Praful Patel, and Congress' Imran Pratapgarhi winning the RS elections.

Of the 284 valid votes, Piyush Goyal polled 48, Anil Bonde 48, Dhananjay Mahadik 41.56, Sanjay Raut 41, Imran Pratapgarhi 44, and Praful Patel 43, news agency PTI reported.

Former BJP MP Dhananjay Mahadik was pitted against Shiv Sena candidate Sanjay Pawar and emerged with a win. Both Mahadik and Pawar hail from Kolhapur in western Maharashtra. The high-stake battle for the sixth seat turned out to be a nail-biting contest with the Congress and BJP trading charges, going on to approach the Election Commission.

"Elections are contested not just for the fight, but the victory. Jai Maharashtra," tweeted former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, whose refusal to have a consensus candidate for the Rajya Sabha caused elections in the state after 24 years.

Delay In Counting Of Votes Amid Complaints Of Cross-Voting

The counting of votes began after an eight-hour delay with complaints of cross-voting and rules violations by the BJP and the ruling alliance. Both BJP and the Shiv Sena approached the Election Commission, alleging cross-voting and seeking disqualification 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. The first result came out in two hours.

 Union Minister Piyush Goyal called BJP candidates' win from Maharashtra a victory for the entire team: "I want to thank former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, state party chief Chandrakant Patil and the entire team for the victory", news agency ANI reported.

After the poll setback, Congress leaders admitted shortcomings in coordination in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi. Maharashtra Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat told reporters in Vidhan Bhavan that they need to look at the reasons behind what went wrong.

"BJP was cunning in holding up the counting and getting one vote invalid. We were confident that all four of our candidates will win comfortably," the Congress leader said, as quoted by PTI.

Imran Pratapgarhi, the victorious Congress candidate, expressed happiness over his win while terming the defeat of Shiv Sena candidate Sanjay Pawar as unfortunate.

NCP leader Praful Patel said he will continue to make sure the concerns of Maharashtra are heard and addressed.

"A huge thank you to all my supporters and well wishers for electing me to serve as the Rajya Sabha Member of the Parliament. I express my heartfelt gratitude to Hon'ble Pawar Saheb and NCP for entrusting me with this responsibility," he tweeted.

"I am deeply humbled by your support, and I want to assure you that I will continue to work day and night to make sure that your concerns and of my Maharashtra state are heard and addressed," he added.

Sanjay Raut, meanwhile, blamed the poll panel for the defeat of the fourth MVA candidate. "Election Commission made our one vote invalid. We objected to two votes but no action was taken on that demand. Election Commission favoured them (BJP)," the Shiv Sena leader said.