CM, 2 DyCMs among Mahayuti heavyweights leading in Maharashtra polls; some Cong stalwarts trail

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar have established comfortable leads in their respective assembly constituencies in the November 20 state elections.

Some senior Congress leaders, including former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and legislature party leader Balasaheb Thorat are trailing behind their nearest rivals as per the updated figures provided by the Election Commission.

CM Shinde established a comfortable lead of 50, 559 votes over his nearest rival Kedar Dighe of Shiv Sena (UBT) in Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency in Thane district as counting progressed in the 11th round.

Deputy CM Fadnavis is ahead of his rival Prafulla Gudadhe of the Congress with a margin of 20,919 votes in Nagpur South West at the end of 13th round.

In the high-profile family battle of Baramati in Pune district, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has left behind his nephew Yugendra Pawar, fielded by Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), by a margin of 49,460 votes at the end of 10th round.

In Worli, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has left Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha member Milind Deora behind by a margin of 1,715 votes at the end of the ninth round.

Balasaheb Thorat, a former minister, was trailing by a margin of 5,395 votes at the end of 11th round, while Prithviraj Chavan was trailing in Karad South constituency by 10,837 votes at the end 7th round.

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole has established a lead over BJP's Avinash Brahamankar by a very thin margin of 476 votes at the end of 10th round of counting.

BJP candidate Sreejaya Chavan, daughter of former chief minister Ashok Chavan, was leading in Bhokar by 12,411 votes over Congress candidate Tirupati Kadam Kondhekar.

Ajit Pawar-led NCP's Zeeshan Siddique was trailing in Vandre East constituency in Mumbai by 5,859 votes at the end of 10th round. Varun Sardesai of the Shiv Sena (UBT) was leading there.

Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar was leading by 25,580 votes at the end of 8th round, leaving Congress nominee Arif Zakaria behind.