Much on expected lines, Rutuja Latke of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) won the by-elections from the Andheri East seat of Mumbai but the larger number of 'None of the Above' (NOTA) votes came as a surprise, and is also suspected to be a conspiracy.
In the run-up to the polls, the Uddhav Thackeray group of Shiv Sena alleged that people are being asked to press the NOTA button.
Rutuja, who contested under the banner of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) and the ‘mashaal’ (burning torch) symbol, got over 65,000 votes, while NOTA votes were over 12,000. Shiv Sena’s Maha Vikas Aghadi partners NCP and Congress have congratulated Rutuja.
This was the first election in Maharashtra after the split of the Shiv Sena founded by late Balasaheb Thackeray 56 years ago. A total of seven candidates were in fray.
The elections to this seat of Mumbai have been necessitated following the death of two-time Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke, who passed away following a heart attack on May 11 while he was on a trip to Dubai.
The Thackeray group had fielded Rutuja, the wife of the late MLA.
The BJP withdrew its candidates after senior leaders including NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and MNS President Raj Thackeray had urged the party in line with traditions of Maharashtra politics — where mainstream parties do not field candidates if any family member of the deceased MLA or MP is contesting the polls.
Published 06 November 2022, 11:28 IST