04-13-2007, 05:03 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Mohite ambition thwarted, major setback for Cong</b>
TN Raghunatha | Mumbai
Sena-BJP wins two Lok Sabha seats
<b>In a major setback for the Congress in general and Revenue Minister Narayan Rane</b> in particular, the Shiv Sena on Thursday retained the Ramtek Lok Sabha seat, by handing a humiliating defeat to its erstwhile partyman-turned-rebel and former Union Heavy Industries Minister Subodh Mohite.
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In two other Lok Sabha by-polls held on Monday,<b> the BJP retained the Jalgaon seat, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) wrested the Erandol seat from the BJP. </b>
In the politically significant Ramtek by-poll that saw Rane's stock erode further in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena's Prakash Jadhav romped home by trouncing Mohite by a comfortable margin of over 30,000 votes.
An acolyte of Rane, Mohite had given up his LS seat and quit the Shiv Sena in February to protest against the style of functioning of Sena's executive president Uddhav Thackeray. He was banking heavily on Rane's support to return to the lower House of Parliament.
Mohite's defeat comes as a major embarrassment for Rane, who had made it a prestige issue to ensure his protégé's re-election to the Lok Sabha; this time as the Congress nominee. In the run-up to the LS polls, Rane had campaigned extensively for Mohite.
Known for his money and muscle power, Rane landed himself in trouble during the electioneering, with the Katol police registering an FIR against him and Mohite for triggering an incident of violence two days before the polls. So much so that the Opposition Shiv Sena-BJP stalled the proceedings in the State Assembly for a couple of days, demanding Rane's resignation and his immediate arrest for his alleged involvement in the Katol incident.
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The presence of Congress rebel Ranjit Deshmukh, who was once the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president, in the poll fray as an Independent also made the matters easy for the Sena nominee in Ramtek. <b>Sena's Jadhav polled 2,31,241 votes as against 1,98,699 votes polled by Mohite. Ranjit Deshmukh played a spoilsport for Mohite, by polling 79,638 votes.</b>
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TN Raghunatha | Mumbai
Sena-BJP wins two Lok Sabha seats
<b>In a major setback for the Congress in general and Revenue Minister Narayan Rane</b> in particular, the Shiv Sena on Thursday retained the Ramtek Lok Sabha seat, by handing a humiliating defeat to its erstwhile partyman-turned-rebel and former Union Heavy Industries Minister Subodh Mohite.
Â
In two other Lok Sabha by-polls held on Monday,<b> the BJP retained the Jalgaon seat, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) wrested the Erandol seat from the BJP. </b>
In the politically significant Ramtek by-poll that saw Rane's stock erode further in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena's Prakash Jadhav romped home by trouncing Mohite by a comfortable margin of over 30,000 votes.
An acolyte of Rane, Mohite had given up his LS seat and quit the Shiv Sena in February to protest against the style of functioning of Sena's executive president Uddhav Thackeray. He was banking heavily on Rane's support to return to the lower House of Parliament.
Mohite's defeat comes as a major embarrassment for Rane, who had made it a prestige issue to ensure his protégé's re-election to the Lok Sabha; this time as the Congress nominee. In the run-up to the LS polls, Rane had campaigned extensively for Mohite.
Known for his money and muscle power, Rane landed himself in trouble during the electioneering, with the Katol police registering an FIR against him and Mohite for triggering an incident of violence two days before the polls. So much so that the Opposition Shiv Sena-BJP stalled the proceedings in the State Assembly for a couple of days, demanding Rane's resignation and his immediate arrest for his alleged involvement in the Katol incident.
............
The presence of Congress rebel Ranjit Deshmukh, who was once the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president, in the poll fray as an Independent also made the matters easy for the Sena nominee in Ramtek. <b>Sena's Jadhav polled 2,31,241 votes as against 1,98,699 votes polled by Mohite. Ranjit Deshmukh played a spoilsport for Mohite, by polling 79,638 votes.</b>
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