After a nail-biting finish in the Lok Sabha bypoll held in Nanded seat, Congress candidate Ravindra Vasantrao Chavan was declared elected with a slender margin of 1,457 votes. Chavan defeated his nearest BJP rival Santukrao Hambarde with VBA candidate Avinash Bhosikar walking away with more than 80,000 votes.
The bypolls for Nanded Lok Sabha seat was necessitated due to the sudden death of Vasantrao who had defeated sitting BJP MP Pratap Patil Chikhalikar by a handsome margin of over 59,000 votes. His victory had surprised many in the Congress as former chief minister Ashokrao Chavan had left the party and joined BJP just before the elections.
Vasantrao had died due to health complications which necessitated this poll. Congress had given his son Ravindra the ticket and the fight was supposed to be an easy one given the sympathy he had in the region.
However, the electoral fight was intense with Hambarde making early gains. At one time, Hambarde was leading with a comfortable margin of over 45,000 votes. However, Ravindra managed to pull back and cover up towards the end of the counting. Hambarde’s brother Mohanrao was the Congress candidate from Nanded South Assembly constituency.
As the lead between Ravindra and Santukrao widened, it almost looked like the BJP would be able to reclaim the Nanded seat which it had lost to the Congress in 2024.
But the last few rounds proved decisive with Ravindra managing to bridge the gap and also win the seat. Nanded Lok Sabha seat had seen Rahul Gandhi campaigning as well as Home Minister Amit Shah flying in. Ashok Chavan, whose daughter Shrejaya managed to win the Bhokar seat, also had put his might to get the seat in the kitty of BJP.
With this win, Congress managed to keep its Lok Sabha seat count to 100 (independent Vishal Patil is a co-opted member) intact. As the MVA went for a massive drubbing in the Assembly polls, this would be the only consolation for the opposition alliance.
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