Mumbai, 22 June (HS): The Mahayuti alliance won 16 of the 17

Legislative Council seats on Monday. The opposition coalition, Maha Vikas

Aghadi, was unable to create an account and won no seats.Gokul Gite, a BJP

renegade, won as an independent candidate in Nashik against the Shiv Sena

candidate. This one seat has highlighted the divides within the ruling

alliance, with the defeated Shiv Sena candidate accusing the BJP and other

alliance members of conspiring against him. Meanwhile, Gokul Gite stated that

if an offer to join the Shiv Sena is made, he will debate it with his party

workers. My workers have helped me gain authority. I cannot make any choice

without consulting them, he told reporters in Nashik on Monday.

In Jalgaon, the Shiv Sena stepped aside to assist the BJP

candidate who won the poll. Sena leaders voiced disappointment with the

outcome, saying their candidate would have won. According to Shiv Sena UBT

leader Sanjay Raut, the BJP beat Shiv Sena's candidate.

When asked for a reply, Shiv Sena UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray replied,

It is so hilarious that I am speechless. This is only a teaser, he said,

mimicking Eknath Shinde. Voting was required in 11 of the 17 seats where

elections were held. Previously, six seats were declared uncontested. Leaders

elected unopposed included BJP's Arun Lakhani from Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli

and Prajakt Tanpure from Ahilyanagar; NCP nominees Vikram Kakade from Pune and

Aniket Tatkare from Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg; and Shiv Sena candidates

Ravindra Phatak from Thane and Dushyant Chaturvedi from Yavatmal.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi