Eknath Shinde’s man prevails in Sena vs Sena cliffhanger by meagre 48 votes

MUMBAI: The Mumbai Northwest constituency was expected to be an intense Sena vs Sena battle—and counting day exceeded expectations. In a nail-biting finish, Ravindra Waikar of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena narrowly defeated Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) Amol Kirtikar by just 48 votes, the lowest margin in the state.
Uddhav Thackeray said his party will challenge the result.Waikar’s win was declared around 8pm at the Nesco counting centre in Goregaon, where crowds of supporters of both candidates gathered outside the gates and raised slogans as the vote turned.
UBT’s Kirtikar had been leading the EVM count for much of the afternoon, with a margin of 1,700-odd votes at around 4pm. Confident of victory, he arrived at the counting centre where he was met by jubilant supporters. But the mood changed soon after as his lead shrank to one vote. And when the postal ballots were added, the lead swung in Waikar’s favour.
Both candidates then approached the returning officer for a recount. Following the rules, the election official re-examined 111 invalid or rejected postal ballots. A postal ballot can be invalid if it is improperly marked or torn, and such votes are scrutinised when the margin of victory by EVM is less than invalid postal votes. But officials deemed that these votes stood as invalid.
Kirtikar received a total of 4,52,596 votes, while Waikar received 4,52,644 votes. Waikar said, “I am glad to have got an opportunity to serve the nation through this seat. I also feel bad about Amol’s loss and apologize to him”. Amol Kirtikar didn’t comment on the results.