Nagpur: The Nagpur graduates’ constituency contest remained on a knife edge since counting began on Tuesday morning, with Independent Nitesh Karale’s second preference votes emerging as a crucial factor in the closely fought battle between BJP’s Sudhakar Kohale and Congress’s Abhijit Wanjari. A Wardha-based social media influencer-turned-politician, Karale, turned the Nagpur poll into a thriller by securing over 25,000 first-preference votes in the 34th round, thus delaying the straightforward victory plans of both BJP and Congress as neither could touch the winning quota of around 75,000 votes.Karale entered the contest after being denied a ticket by his party, NCP (SP), as the seat had gone to Congress under the alliance’s formula. The party expelled him for six years after he refused to withdraw his nomination.But nobody anticipated that Karale would emerge as a crucial factor in deciding who claims the Nagpur graduate constituency seat. Now for either of the candidates to win, they need to be the second preference of the votes which Karale secured. The complicated counting system of preferential voting (SEE INFO GFX) meant that every round kept on increasing the suspense as the gap between Kohale and Wanjari kept oscillating.Even after 40 hours of counting, no clear winner emerged in Nagpur. In one of his video posts, Karale said, “I built this support of people without the backing of any established party. I did not distribute cash, nor gave liquor and meat parties. I didn’t even put up banners during the campaign. This all is happening because people believed in me.” Karale claimed nearly 8,000 ballots marked in his favour were rejected because some voters wrote “21” against his name or marked their ballots incorrectly. He argued his vote count demonstrated his support base despite being denied the alliance ticket. He also pointed to his work through protests and public interventions, saying his politics involved taking up people’s issues on the ground rather than limiting himself to speeches.The winning quota stood at 75,438, leaving both candidates short of the mark. These figures were provisional and subject to change as counting continued.The man who wanted to be king, though ignored by his party, has now ironically turned into the kingmaker with two national parties now dependent on his ballots to secure victory.
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