Andheri bypoll: Sena wins, NOTA breaks all records

Rutuja Latke with party president Uddhav Thackeray and party leader Aaditya Thackeray at Matoshree, after her victory at the Andheri East bypoll, on Sunday. Pic/Rane Ashish

The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) won the Andheri East bypoll with its candidate Rutuja Latke securing 76.85 per cent vote share on Sunday. However, the election recorded the highest ever number of voters opting for NOTA across the country so far, at over 12,000 or 14.79 per cent votes. Political experts said, despite the huge number of NOTA votes, the victory will boost the morale of the Thackeray Sena, especially as this is the first election after the split in the party.

Rutuja Latke secured 66,530 votes, which is 76.85 per cent of the voters who exercised their franchise. The by-election saw only 31.70 per cent voter turnout. The seat was earlier held by her husband Ramesh Latke, whose demise necessitated the bypoll. Ramesh Latke had in 2019 secured 62,773 or 42.64 per cent votes and in 2014 he had won with 52,817 or 32.52 per cent votes. Before that, Congress's Suresh Shetty had won from the seat in 2009 with 55,990 or 40.74 per cent votes.

Boost to Thackeray Sena

Political expert Santosh Pradhan said, "A victory is victory. This will help to boost the morale of the winning party and its workers. The Sena had alleged that BJP was campaigning for voting for NOTA, which means BJP voters might have selected NOTA. At over 12,000 votes, NOTA has a good number, but the victory will help the Thackeray faction."

Also read: Maharashtra BJP downplays Uddhav camp's victory; NCP taunts ruling party

Rutuja Latke's daughter Bhargavi congratulates her mother after her victory in the Andheri East bypoll, on Sunday. Pic/Rane Ashish

"The Sena suffered a major political blow due to the split in party. Although this victory is one-sided, this will help boost morale. If the Thackeray faction had lost this election that would have been a major blow. That's why this victory is important," he added.

‘BJP's NOTA call bad politics'

He, however, added, "It is bad if the ruling party in the country and the state is asking citizens to vote for NOTA. If this is the case, it can be concluded that the BJP got as many votes as NOTA."

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) workers celebrate after winning the bypoll, on Sunday. Pic/Sameer Markande

Abhay Deshpande, another political expert, also said that the result will help bolster Thackeray Sena's confidence, and added, "There are campaigns among BJP voters for NOTA. So, there are chances that the BJP asked its voters to opt for NOTA. If the BJP contested the election and the Thackeray faction had won, the consolidation of anti-BJP votes would have been evident. By not contesting this election, the BJP avoided polarisation of its voters before the civic election."

NOTA polling so far

The Andheri East seat had in 2019 seen only 4,311 or 2.93 per cent voters opting for NOTA (None of the above), which had ranked fourth. Before this, Latur Rural had polled the highest NOTA votes across the country with 13.78 per cent voters choosing NOTA during the 2019 state Assembly election. Congress candidate Dhiraj Deshmukh had emerged victorious from that seat.

Apart from this, Bihar had also seen a number of voters opting for it during the parliamentary election in 2019 wherein 5.04 per cent chose NOTA. Dr Ashok Kumar Suman from the Janata Dal (United) had won the election.

14.79
Percentage of voters who opted for NOTA

76.85
Percentage of votes Latke got