Maharashtra elections: Congress chief survives BJP tsunami by a whisker

NAGPUR/SAKOLI: Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole escaped from the jaws of defeat by a wafer-thin margin of 208, retaining Sakoli assembly seat against BJP's Avinash Brahmankar, courtesy postal ballots and recounting.

Patole's day started with high confidence in the wake of Congress' impressive show in the state in Lok Sabha elections. Amid swinging fortunes, he trailed by 476 votes at round 10 and returned to lead by 535 votes by round 15. But by this time as the news of Congress' electoral route started coming in, fear gripped Patole's camp.

The last EVM round (number 28) seemed like a nail in the coffin for Patole as he trailed by 658 votes. But then the postal ballots, counted earlier in the morning, were included into the total, besides recounting of some rounds. As the numbers added up, Patole negated his loss, ending as the winner.

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