Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) candidate Anil Desai has won the South-Central Mumbai constituency, defeating two-term MP Rahul Shewale by a margin of 53,384 votes.
Anil Desai, contesting his first Lok Sabha election, secured 3,95,138 votes compared to Rahul Shewale's 3,41,754 votes.
The Shiv Sena Bhavan is located in the South-Central constituency itself, and the Dadar area is dominated by the Shiv Sena. So, all eyes were on what the outcome would be in this constituency. The seat was won by the Congress in 2009, followed by the Shiv Sena's candidate Rahul Shewale in 2014.
Counting of votes for the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra commenced at 8 am, with postal ballots counted first. The ruling BJP, opposition Congress, as well as the factions of Shiv Sena and NCP, are competing for political dominance in the state alongside the Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP).
Maharashtra conducted general elections in five phases from April 19 to May 20, witnessing a voter participation of 61.33 percent. Out of 9,29,43,890 eligible voters, 5,70,06,778 exercised their franchise across the five phases.
The Gadchiroli-Chimur constituency recorded the highest turnout at 71.88 percent, while Mumbai South had the lowest at 50.06 percent.
A total of 14,507 vote-counting personnel are deployed across 289 counting rooms and 4,309 counting tables in Maharashtra.