The final results of the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections were declared early on Thursday after 45 hours of counting, handing the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) a sweep of all three Graduate constituencies and the ruling Mahayuti both Teacher constituencies, IANS reported. Polling for the five seats was held on October 23.

Source: IANS via Hi India

The last two results complete a verdict that had emerged in parts a day earlier, when Congress candidate Abhijeet Wanjari retained the Nagpur Graduates' seat and the first Pune and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar results were declared while counting continued elsewhere. With the Pune Graduates' and Amravati Teachers' seats now decided, the full five-seat picture is settled.

Pune Graduates' seat completes the MVA sweep

In the Pune Graduates' constituency, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar faction) candidate Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav defeated the BJP's Smita Jadhav by a margin of 9,928 votes after a 44-round elimination process under the preferential ballot system, according to the reports.

Source: Nation Press

Mahayuti holds both Teacher seats

In the Amravati Teachers' constituency, Shiv Sena candidate Kiran Sarnaik emerged victorious after a 32-hour counting marathon, defeating MVA-backed Professor Aditi Pohare in the final elimination rounds to retain the seat for the ruling alliance, IANS reported. In Pune Teachers', BJP candidate Kaustubh Gawade, aged 30, reclaimed the seat for his party after an 18-year gap.

Source: IANS via Hi India

3Graduate seats won by the MVA
2Teacher seats won by the Mahayuti
45 hoursCounting before final results
5Council seats polled on October 23

How the other seats fell

In Nagpur, sitting Congress MLC Abhijeet Wanjari secured 67,231 votes against BJP rival Sudhakar Kohale's 63,960, winning by 3,271 votes after second-preference counting; independent candidate Nitesh Karale polled 25,909 votes. In the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates' seat, NCP(SP) candidate Dr Pratapsinh Patil defeated sitting MLC Satish Chavan of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP camp by a margin of over 13,000 votes, ending an 18-year hold on the seat, the reports said.

Source: Nation Press

Reports quoting political analysts said graduate voters leaned towards the opposition amid concerns over employment and higher education, while the teacher constituencies backed the ruling Mahayuti. PTI reported the overall tally the same way: the MVA took three seats, while Mahayuti partners BJP and Shiv Sena won one seat each.

Source: PTI via The Sen Times