Baramati, May 4 (IANS) As the first round of vote counting completed for the Baramati bye-elections, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar was leading with over 8800 votes, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI) trends as of 9:40 a.m.

A total of 27,264 votes have been counted so far, out of which Sunetra Pawar has secured 26,773 votes. All other candidates are left with a combined total of 491 votes.

Akshay Shivajirao Kardile, representing the Bharatiya Janata Party, is presently ahead in the Rahuri assembly constituency of Maharashtra.

According to the Election Commission of India, the BJP candidate has amassed 11,071 votes as of the second round of counting.

The bypolls were held on April 9 and April 23 across constituencies in Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Nagaland and Tripura. The elections were necessitated by the deaths of sitting MLAs in the respective seats, leading to closely watched contests between major political parties.

In Maharashtra, the Baramati seat in Pune district has drawn major attention as it is considered a stronghold of the influential Pawar family. The seat fell vacant after the death of sitting MLA Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on January 28. His wife, NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, is contesting from the constituency, making it one of the most high-profile contests in the bypolls.

The Baramati Assembly constituency has 3.84 lakh registered voters.

In all, 23 candidates, including Sunetra Pawar, were in the fray.

However, the withdrawal of major opposition parties has positioned Sunetra Pawar as the clear frontrunner to carry forward the Pawar legacy in the state Assembly.

Additionally, counting of votes is also underway for the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam, and Puducherry, and final results are expected by the end of the day as trends emerge through multiple counting rounds.

–IANS

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