Sena's Trupti Sawant thumps Congress's Narayan Rane by over 19,000 votes to win Bandra(East) seat

Despite claiming that he had chance at winning the seat, former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane tumbled to defeat against Shiv Sena’s Trupti Sawant, losing the seat by over 19,000 votes. The battle for Bandra (East) became a prestige issue for Shiv Sena due to the challenge posed by the party renegade-turned-Congress leader Rane on the home turf of Uddhav Thackeray. [caption id=“attachment_2197208” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ibnlive image[/caption] Sena had fielded Sawant, wife of sitting party MLA Bala Sawant whose death necessitated the bypoll, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen had nominated Siraj Khan. For Rane, who lost last year’s Assembly elections from his home-turf of Sindhudurg district, the bypoll was a do-or-die battle to stay relevant in the state politics as the humiliating defeat had significantly eroded his standing in the party. For Sawant, it will mean her debut in the Maharashtra Assembly and a face-saving win for the Shiv Sena. As  _Firstpost_'s Vishwas Waghmode had pointed out in an earlier article the poll batter was crucial for Rane who failed to hold on to his seat in the Sindhudurg district. Rane had contested the 2014 assembly elections from Kudal constituency in Sindhudurg district, his home turf, but was defeated by Sena’s Vaibhav Naik by a margin of 9,000 votes. Rane’s victory was would have indicated signs of the the party’s revival in state, and a boost for the Congress as he’s seen as having a knack of raising various issues and cornering the ruling alliance in state. Unlike the state elections last year where the BJP fielded candidates against the Shiv Sena, after ties between the two parties broke down, the party chose not to field a candidate against Sawant in this case and backed her instead.