Aurangabad, April 22: Ambadas Danve, the Shiv Sena candidate backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was declared the winner of legislative council elections in Maharashtra on Thursday. As per the results announced, Danve won the polls by a decisive margin of 418 votes against his Congress rival Baburao Kulkarni.

Voting for the polls was held on Monday, with 647 out of the registered 657 voters -- belonging to various local self-governing bodies in Aurangabad and Jalna districts -- had participated in the polls. In Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand, BJP Likely to Fight Polls Under Incumbent Chief Ministers

As per the statement issued by the State Election Commission, 99.48 percent of the electorate had exercised their right to vote. The polls were held smoothly between 8am to 4pm in 17 designated centres.

The Congress had alleged foul play ahead of the polls, claiming that the Sena leadership had used "money power" to sway the voters in their favour. A week ahead of the elections, said Congress' Aurangabad district unit chief Anil Patel, the voters were taken to the Igatpuri hill station in Nashik and kept in a five-star hotel after they returned.

Danve, however, had refuted the charges claiming that several Congress-NCP members of local bodies are backing him, similar to how top state leaders of both the parties are switching sides to Sena and BJP ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.

Danve's victory will be a shot in the arm for the saffron alliance, which is predicted by the pollsters to script a landslide victory in the upcoming state polls. The elections date are yet to be announced, but are widely expected to be held in October-November.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 22, 2019 12:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).