Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The elections to four Local Authorities’ Constituencies in Marathwada on Thursday witnessed an average of over 99% polling, with Mahayuti leaders expressing hopes of massive wins due to claimed cross-voting from the MVA camp.
Held under the shadow of ‘Operation Tiger’, aimed at poaching of Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs, the MLC polls allegedly saw confusion among a section of MVA voters associated with three MPs from Marathwada who are expected to ditch Uddhav Thackeray.
Among four constituencies that went to poll, the Aurangabad-Jalna Local Authorities’ Constituency reported 98.9% polling, whereas both Nanded Local Authorities’ Constituency and Parbhani-Hingoli Local Authorities’ Constituency registered 99.8% voting. The figure for Osmanabad-Latur-Beed Local Authorities’ Constituency was recorded at 99.5%.
BJP Minister for OBC welfare Atul Save said the NDA will have a clean sweep in Marathwada and at the state-level in the MLC polls. “Mahayuti’s victory in Marathwada will be magnificent due to large-scale cross-voting from the MVA camp. Sena (UBT) MPs are joining the NDA to fulfill aspirations of development of their respective constituencies and such a switch will offer the Mahayuti early gains in MLC polls,” he told TOI.
Congress general secretary Jitendra Dehade said the voters will show opportunistic leaders their place in the upcoming elections. “The claims of cross-voting are baseless and we will give a tough fight,” he said.
Senior Sena (UBT) leaders, however, refused to comment. Among major developments in the region, in Parbhani-Hingoli constituency, Congress had issued a whip asking its elected representatives to vote for Krushna Patil, the MVA candidate and son of Nagesh Patil Ashtikar, who is believed to be one of the poached MPs under “Operation Tiger”.
The official results for the MLC polls will be declared on June 22. Stay updated with the latest Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar news. Download the TOI App.
