Kalaben Delkar, the widow of former MP Mohan Delkar – who died by suicide in a Mumbai hotel, has won the Lok Sabha by-polls for Dadra and Nagar Haveli seat by more than 50,000 votes on Monday. The win is also the first win of Shiv Sena, outside Gujarat.
Out of total 1,16,834 votes of the total votes registered, Kalaben defeated her nearest rival, Mahesh Gavit from BJP by over 51,000, marking the highest ever winning margin in Dadra & Nagar Haveli polls. The 50-year-old made a remarkable electoral victory due to a sympathy wave provided the popularity of Mohan Delkar, who had won the seat for a record seven times.
“I thank all the people of the constituency for the sentiments they have shown towards my late husband and putting their trust in me. I will try my best to fulfill this trust,” she said after the results.
Sanjay Raut, the spokesman of Shiv Sena took to Twitter to mark this victory as a way to Delhi. “First step outside Maharashtra, giant leap towards Delhi via Dadra Nagar Haveli, he tweeted.
Also, the closest rival, Mahesh Gavit said, “I congratulate Kalaben Delkar for winning the elections. We will analyze the results and see what needs to be done.” Gavit is a former DNH district panchayat vice-president and a former cop.
The by-election was necessitated after Delkar had died by suicide at Hotel Sea Green in Marine Drive, Mumbai in February. He had left behind a 15-page long suicide note, wherein he allegedly named Praful Patel, the Administrator of Daman, Diu and DNH and other officials for harassment. For the by-election of his seat, Kalaben was offered the ticket by Shiv Sena. Following this, Kalaben and their son had joined the Maharashtra-based party.
However, the losing feat and poor performance of Congress continued in DNH by-polls too, with their candidate Mahesh Dhodi losing his deposit.
