Union minister Narayan Rane wins debut LS poll, wrests Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat from Sena (UBT)

Mumbai, Jun 4 (PTI) Union MSME minister Narayan Rane on Tuesday wrested Ratnagiri- Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in a prestige battle.

Rane defeated his nearest rival and two-term MP Vinayak Raut by a margin of 47,858 votes in his debut election for Lok Sabha.

A former Shivsainik and ex-chief minister of Maharashtra, Rane polled 4,48,514 votes while Raut secured 4,00,656 votes.

This is the first time the BJP has won a Parliamentary seat in the coastal Konkan region, a traditional stronghold of the Shiv Sena (undivided).

This was the first Lok Sabha election wherein the 'bow and arrow' poll symbol of the undivided Sena was missing from the scene, after the split in the party in June 2022.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) contested elections on the 'flaming torch' symbol.

Among other candidates in the fray in the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency, an Independent nominee, also named Vinayak Raut, bagged 15,826 votes, while Maruti Joshi of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi secured 10,039 and BSP's Aayare Lahu 7,856.

NOTA tally stood at 11,643 votes. PTI MR NSK