Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Minister Atul Save of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Aurangabad East seat by a narrow margin of 1,777 votes in a dramatic final round of counting. Save trailed Imtiaz Jaleel of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) from the first to the 20th round, but made a strong comeback in the last rounds to secure the victory.
Save, who had been behind Jaleel for most of the day, gained a 3,179-vote lead by the 21st round. In the final count, Save extended his lead to 2,800 votes, defeating Jaleel in a close contest. Despite the tight race, Jaleel’s early lead could not withstand Save’s surge in the later rounds.
The voter turnout in the constituency was 60.63% this year, slightly down from 63.2% in 2019.
The race saw 29 candidates vying for the seat, but the primary battle was between Save and Jaleel. Of the 354,633 eligible voters, 215,029 cast their ballots, including 114,104 male voters and 92,921 female voters. However, 139,604 voters abstained from voting.
Much of the focus in the campaign had been on the Maratha vote, with an estimated 38,000-42,000 Maratha voters in the constituency. It was believed that around 24,000 Maratha votes were cast and BJP officials hoping to secure support from older Maratha voters. However, younger Maratha voters, particularly those in the 20-40 age group, were reportedly leaning against the BJP. Political analysts suggest that while the Maratha votes were divided among BJP, Congress, AIMIM, and NOTA, the Dalit and OBC vote shares, along with some Maratha votes, helped Save clinch the victory.