Mumbai: Former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction candidate Rutuja Latke won with 66,247 votes from Andheri East constituency of Mumbai suburb as the bypoll result was declared on Sunday.
Latke secured 66,530 votes 76.85 percent of the total votes cast and declared the winner of the seat.
12,806 voters or 14.79 percent – exercised the None Of The Above (NOTA) option, nearly double the votes that all the candidates of two smaller parties and four independents secured.
Against the runner-up NOTA tally of 12,806, independents Rajesh Tripathi got 1,671 votes, Neena Khedekar secured 1,531 votes, Bala V. Nadar (Aapki Apni Party) got 1,515 votes, independent Farhana S. Sayed secured 1,093 votes, Manoj Nayak (Right To Recall Party) got 900 votes and independent Milind Kamble secured 624 votes.
Their combined total votes came to 7,234 or 8.35 percent, compared with NOTAs 14.79 percent and way behind Latkes 76.85 per cent vote share.
The bypoll was held on November 3 due to death of Rutuja Latkes husband and Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke in May this year.
During the poll 31.74 per cent votes were cast.
This was the first electoral contest in Maharashtra after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government collapsed in June following a revolt by a section of Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde.
(Wih UNI inputs)
