Rane loses Mumbai bypoll by huge margin, MIM loses deposit

Mumbai

Former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane lost Bandra East Assembly bypoll by huge margin of over 19,000 votes against his Shiv Sena/BJP rival in the Bandra East Assembly bypoll. Rane was backed by Sharad Pawar led NCP in this bypoll.

Victorious Shiv Sena/BJP candidate got 52,711 votes while Congress got 33,703 votes. Owaisi led MIM got 15,050 votes.

Woman candidate of Shiv Sena who has won the bypoll is widow of late Shiv Sena MLA whose sudden death caused bypoll.

This is another defeat for Rane who had lost his seat by margin of over 9,000 votes in Maharashtra assembly general election last year. Rane’s son former Lok Sabha MP Nilesh Rane also lost Lok Sabha general election last year. Rane’s other son Nitesh is MLA.

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s (MIM) Rehbar Khan was a distant thirds. Though Bandra East constituency has about 80,000 Muslim votes, MIM could get only 14,000 votes and lost deposit. MIM had won 23,976 votes in Bandra East during the Lok Sabha general election last year. Today’s result indicates its decline.

In Tasgaon-Kavathe Mahankal constituency in Sangli district, NCP nominee and late R R Patil’s widow Suman Patil won against her immediate rival, BJP rebel and independent candidate Swapnil Patil.

Bandra East constituency in suburban Mumbai houses the residence of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, ‘Matoshree’.

The Bandra East bye-election has turned crucial for Rane who had lost the state Assembly polls last year from his home turf Sindhudurg district in coastal Konkan.

A total of 10 candidates were in the fray in Bandra East and 9 in Tasgaon-Kavathe Mahankal constituency.

The bypolls were held on April 11.