Congress Maharashtra president and candidate from Sakoli Assembly constituency, Nana Patole, by a narrow margin of just 208 votes against BJP's Avinash Anandrao. Earlier, Patole was trailing, but after a few rounds of counting, the situation changed. The results were announced late in the evening, following intense vote counting at the Sub-Divisional Officer’s office. After the announcement, Congress supporters held a victory rally led by MP Dr Prashant Padole.
The counting of votes began at 8 a.m. and saw a fierce contest between the Congress and BJP candidates. Nana Patole faced stiff competition from BJP’s Avinash Brahmankar, who finished second, trailing by only 208 votes. Independent candidate Dr Sob Karanjkar came third.
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BJP candidate Avinash Brahmankar was leading by 658 votes during 27 rounds of counting of votes. After the last and 28 rounds of counting, Patole won with a margin of over 2018 votes. Salkoli is one of the assembly constituencies of the 288 constituencies in Maharashtra, located in the Bhandara district of the Vidarbha region.
The final results were declared around 7 pm, confirming Nana Patole’s victory. Congress workers celebrated with a grand rally in Sakoli, attended by MP Dr Prashant Padole, Social Welfare Chairman Madan Ramteke, former Congress city president Ashwin Nashin, engineer Sandeep Bawankule, Vijay Dubey, Naeem Ali, and numerous party supporters. However, Nana Patole himself was not present at the rally.
Following the announcement, BJP candidate Avinash Brahmankar, along with former MP Sunil Mende and BJP district president Prakash Balbudde, demanded a recount of the votes. However, the request was rejected by Election Returning Officer and Sub-Divisional Officer Ashwini Maje.
In the 214 assembly polls, Mahayuti fielded BJP leader Avinash Anandrao Brahmankar against Nana. The constituency is more rural and has a mixture of agriculture and tribal populations.
Sakoli, Prithviraj Chavan from Karad Dakshin and Balasaheb Thorat from Sangamner have been defeated. The defeat of these three veterans of Congress is considered a big blow for Congress. This defeat is very big for Congress.