Sena-BJP bags two Lok Sabha seats in by-polls

The Shiv Sena-BJP today scored impressive wins in two of the three Lok Sabha by-polls in Maharashtra after a series of losses in the Assembly by-elections.

The Shiv Sena retained the Ramtek Lok Sabha seat, where its candidate defeated Subodh Mohite, who quit the Sena and fought the by-polls as a Congress candidate, while the BJP held on to the Jalgaon constituency.

However, the NCP, a partner in the state's Congress-led coalition government, wrested the Erandol seat from the BJP.

The Jalgaon and Erandol seats, both in north Maharashtra, fell vacant when sitting BJP MPs, Y G Mahajan and M K Anna Patil respectively, were expelled from the lower house of Parliament following their involvement in the cash-for- questions scam.

The voting for all three seats was held on April 9 and the results were announced today.

Prakash Jadhav of Shiv Sena won in Ramtek, defeating former Union minister Mohite by a margin of 32,571 votes.

The by-poll in Ramtek was necessitated when Mohite, the sitting Sena MP, resigned and joined the Congress, which fielded him from the constituency once represented by late prime minister P V Narasimha Rao.

Jadhav polled 2,31,239 votes, while Mohite bagged 1,98,668, officials said.

The NCP's candidate in Erandol, Vasantrao Jivanrao More, defeated B S Patil of BJP by 52,209 votes. More polled 2,41,707 votes, while Patil got 1,98,498.

BJP candidate Haribhau Mohan Jawale won in Jalgaon, defeating his nearest rival, Arjun Ganpat Bhangale of Congress, by a margin of 25,717 votes.