At Latur rural, Dhiraj Deshmukh wins, NOTA comes second

Latur, Oct 25: The 'NOTA' option has secured the second slot in the Latur Rural Assembly segment, from where late Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's son Dhiraj posted a handsome victory in his maiden poll outing.

According to the results announced on late Thursday evening, Dhiraj Deshmukh, the Congress candidate, secured 1,35,006 votes (67.64 per cent).

The 'None of the Above' (NOTA) clinched 27,500 votes (13.78 per cent) to secure the second position, relegating other candidates in fray from the seat to inferior positions.

Shiv Sena candidate Sachin Deshmukh, Dhiraj Deshmukh's main rival, stood third, garnering 13,459 votes (6.78 per cent).

Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi's Manchakrao Done received 12,966 votes to clinch fourth slot (6.5 per cent).

Latur Rural was given to the Shiv Sena by the BJP in exchange for Ausa during seat-sharing negotiations between the saffron allies.

There were a total of 15 candidates in the Latur Rural constituency and 16thoption was NOTA.

As many as 27,449 votes were registered for NOTA on EVMs, whereas 51 were postal votes for the option.

The total number of valid votes on EVMs in the seat stood at 1,99,599, while the postal ballot count was 563.

The NOTA option was first introduced in 2014 following an apex court verdict a year earlier.