With merely a few hours to go before election results are announced, star campaigners, including celebrities, cabinet ministers, incumbent MLAs and dynastic leaders have retained their leading positions, with a steady rise in their victory margin. Some, however, have started falling behind.
In the Mumbai South constituency, the newly appointed Mumbai Congress chief, Milind Deora, has been trailing throughout Thursday, while his opponent, Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena, is ahead by a margin of 69,814 votes.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis with Shiv Sena’s South Mumbai candidate Arvind Sawant at a rally at Kalachowky on Wednesday.
Similarly, Congress candidates from Mumbai North, Urmila Matondkar, and Mumbai North Central, Priya Dutt, have been trailing too. Their respective opponents are racing ahead to victory: BJP MLA Gopal Shetty is leading with 3,11,767 votes, and BJP’s Poonam Mahajan is ahead with 1,20,593 votes.
While Union Minister Nitin Gadkari continues to lead in Nagpur, late BJP union minister Gopinath Munde’s daughter, Pritam Munde, a BJP candidate from Beed, is leading with 1,12,030 votes.
Poonam Mahajan, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Mumbai North Central candidate, waves as she takes part in an election campaign rally in Mumbai.
In Maval, Shriranga Barne of the Shiv Sena has raced ahead of NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s grandson, Parth Pawar, by 2,14,951 votes. Parth’s aunt, Supriya Sule, however, continues to be leading from Baramati with a vote margin of 1,52,789.
The Raigad constituency, meanwhile, is witnessing a tough fight, where NCP’s Sunil Tatkare has once again overtaken BJP’s six-time MP Anant Geete by 14,818 votes.
BJP Mumbai North candidate Gopal Shetty campaigns in Borivali.
In Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Shiv Sena’s Vinayak Raut continues to be ahead of Narayan Rane’s son Nilesh Rane by 1,51,745 votes.
Actor Dr. Amol Kolhe, who moved to the NCP from Shiv Sena a little ahead of the polls, continues to lead in Shirur against Adhalrao Dattatray of Shiv Sena by 63,002 votes.
BJP MP and Chandrapur candidate Hansraj Ahir, who was leading earlier in the day, has fallen behind Suresh Dhanorkar of the Congress by 14,155 votes.
