NAGPUR: Congress candidate Abhijit Wanjarri has won the Nagpur Division Legislative Council Graduates’ Constituency election, securing a total of 67,231 votes after the first- and second-preference counts. His nearest rival, BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale, received 63,960 votes.Election Returning Officer and Divisional Commissioner Vijayalakshmi Bidari handed over the certificate of election to Wanjarri.Vote counting began at 8am on Tuesday, October 27, at the Divisional Sports Complex in Mankapur, Nagpur, using 84 tables. The counting process continued for more than 41 hours. Election Observer Dr Harshdeep Kamble, Returning Officer and Divisional Commissioner Vijayalakshmi Bidari, assistant returning officers, collectors from all districts in the division, and officials and staff deployed for the counting were present.Neither candidate secured the required quota of 75,438 votes in the two rounds of first-preference counting. Consequently, a second-preference elimination round was conducted in accordance with the election procedure. Of the 1,65,906 votes counted in the two first-preference rounds, 15,032 were declared invalid, while 1,50,874 were found to be valid.No candidate secured the prescribed quota even after the second-preference elimination round. Therefore, Wanjarri, who secured the highest total of 67,231 votes across the first- and second-preference elimination rounds, was declared elected.The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the Nagpur Division Legislative Council Graduates’ Constituency election on September 22. The election notification was issued on September 29. Polling was held on October 23 from 8am to 4pm. Vote counting began at 8am on October 27 and concluded after more than 41 hours. The Commission has scheduled October 31 as the deadline for completing the entire election process.
