BJP’s Sunil Kamble of the Mahayuti was re-elected from the Pune Cantonment Assembly constituency.

He polled 76,032 votes while Bagwe got 65,712 votes.

Kamble, who credited his win to the Laadki Bahin scheme pointed out that their efforts in working for the people paid off. “In the last five years we have taken up various development projects and worked towards improving infrastructure,” Kamble said.

He pointed out that there was no Congress wave. “Infact, I am grateful to the people for their invaluable vote and being given an opportunity for the second time,” he said.

Speaking at the FCI counting centre on Sunday, Kamble also attributed his win to the tremendous efforts taken by the party workers. “They have effectively tackled the “opponent’s dadagiri (bullying),” he said.

“Janata ni hathath nivudnik ghetli, amchya ladki bahin ni aashirwad dila ani tsunami aanli (People took these elections in their own hands, our dear sisters gave us blessings, and brought about this tsunami),” Dilip Kamble, chairman of Annabhau Sathe Development Corporation and Sunil Kamble’s brother, told The Indian Express as he visited the Pune Cantonment Assembly Segment counting centre where party workers celebrated the victory in large numbers.

Neck-and-neck in initial round

What began as a neck-and-neck contest in the initial round of vote counting had Ramesh Bagwe leading by 1,074 votes after the fourth round.

However, at the end of the sixth round of counting, Sunil Kamble had polled 19,384 votes, while Bagwe had polled 19,092 votes.

It also became clear that Bagwe’s chances for a win were dented as Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi’s Nilesh Alhat had polled over 5,000 votes.

At the end of the 10th round Sunil Kamble led by 6,000 votes and polled a total of 37,698 votes, whereas Bagwe polled 31,822 votes.

However, at 12 noon after the 15th round of counting, Kamble ’s lead margin had narrowed slightly and he polled 55,277 votes as against Bagwe’s 52,815. Nilesh Alhat of VBA polled 8,387 votes that traditionally would have gone to Congress.

According to BJP party workers, Kamble got a huge lead from areas like Wanowrie and by the end of 20 rounds of counting, he retained the Pune Cantonment Assembly segment.

Nilesh Alhat polled 8,869 votes while 1,815 pressed the NOTA button.

2019’s rematch

In 2019, too, Bagwe had faced Kamble and lost by 5,012 votes.

Back then, there had been dissent in the Congress camp in the runup to the elections over Bagwe’s renomination.

His rivals had been harping on the fact that Bagwe had lost the last two elections and it was time for a change.

The Congress gave the ticket to party loyalist Bagwe, who has also been a two-time MLA.

Sources close to Bagwe said that Congress party workers came together to work for the candidate, but the Laadki Bahin scheme dented their chances, among other reasons.