Ajit Pawar wins by highest margin; Lande by lowest gap

Former Maharashtra deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Thursday won from the Baramati assembly constituency by defeating his nearest rival by over 1.65 lakh votes - the highest victory margin recorded by a candidate in this election.

On the other hand, Shiv Sena candidate Dilip Bhausaheb Lande won from the Chandivali constituency in north Mumbai by just 409 votes - the lowest victory margin posted by a nominee in the elections held on October 21.

Ajit Pawar won the seat in Pune district for a sixth consecutive term.

According to the Election Commission (EC) data, Ajit Pawar defeated the BJP's Gopichand Padalkar by a margin of 1,65,265 votes.

Ajit Pawar, nephew of NCP president Sharad Pawar, polled 1,95,641 votes, while his nearest rival, Padalkar, bagged just 30,376 votes.

The 60-year-old NCP leader was followed by Vishwajit Kadam, who is the state Congress working president, in terms of victory gap.

Kadam defeated his nearest Shiv Sena rival Sanjay Vibhute by a margin of 1,62,521 votes in Palus Kadegaon in Sangli district of western Maharashtra.

The third spot was occupied by Dhiraj Deshmukh of the Congress in Latur Rural. A debutant, Dhiraj Deshmukh defeated his Shiv Sena rival Sachin Ramraje Deshmukh by 1,21,482 votes.

At least five candidates won by margins of less than 1,000 votes, the Election Commission's data showed.

In Chandivali, the Sena's Lande defeated Naseem Khan of the Congress by 409 votes.

In Arjuni-Morgaon constituency, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate Manohar Gowardhan Chandrikapure defeated former cabinet minister Rajkumar Badole by a margin of 719 votes.

Sangola in Solapur district, considered to be a fortress of the Peasants And Workers Party, fell by a very thin margin.

PWP veteran Ganpatrao Deshmukh, the longest serving member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly who had been elected 11 times, had refused to contest this time from Sangola.

He was replaced by his grandson Aniket Deshmukh, who lost by 768 votes to Shiv Sena's Shahajibapu Rajaram Patil.

Rahul Subhashrao Kul, the BJP candidate from Daund, won by 746 votes in a neck-to-neck fight with NCP's Ramesh Kisanrao Thorat.

At Kopargaon, NCP's Aashutosh Ashokrao Kale won by 822 votes against BJP candidate Snehalata Kole.

Speaking about his landslide win on his electoral debut with the third highest margin in the state, Dhiraj Deshmukh attributed it to love and support of voters and promised to deliver on promises made during campaigning.

"I am overwhelmed with the love and support of my people. This journey and this victory would not have been possible without their love and support at every step of the way. Their love for late Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh Saheb and our family is overwhelming.

"I hope to deliver on the expectations my voters have of me. And bring about change and prosperity for my farmers and the families of Latur," he said.

"With power comes greater responsibility and I pray for the continued blessings of my constituents so that I can walk on the path laid down by my late father," said Dhiraj Deshmukh.

In a tweet, Ajit Pawar thanked the people of Baramati for their overwhelming support.