Sharad Pawar 'not suprised' with RS polls results, reveals reason behind BJP winning 3 out of 6 seats in Maharashtra

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], June 11 : Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said he is not surprised by the results of the Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra and said that the BJP managed to win three out of the six seats due to the efforts made by former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
"The result doesn't surprise me. Congress, Shiv Sena, and NCP have been voted as per the quota, except (NCP's) Praful Patel who has received an extra vote - that vote is not from MVA, it's from the other side. We had fewer votes for the sixth seat but Shiv Sena fielded its candidate and tried to make him win. BJP had the support of many independent MLAs and we had only a few," Pawar told ANI.
"The miracle happened because BJP's Devendra Fadnavis managed to get the Independents on their side...which made all the difference. But this will not affect the stability of government (Maha Vikas Aghadi)," he added.
The NCP chief said that he will discuss the Presidential elections with Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi.
"I haven't had any discussion over Presidential elections with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Tomorrow I am visiting Delhi, will hold a discussion over the same," he said.
In Maharashtra, BJP was certain to get two seats but the party managed to secure a third seat as well with the help of Independents. Union Minister Piyush Goyal, former state minister Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik from the BJP emerged victorious while one candidate each from Shiv Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won.
285 votes were polled on Friday and 41 were needed to win one Rajya Sabha seat.
Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut, NCP's Praful Patel and Congress's Imran Pratapgarhi were elected without any hassle. However, all eyes were on the contest for the sixth seat where the BJP has fielded Dhananjay Mahadik and Sanjay Pawar was in the fray as the Shiv Sena candidate. Mahadik's came as a setback for Shiv Sena which was hoping to get two seats in the Rajya Sabha elections.
Before the polling day, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has extended support to Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and said its two MLAs in Maharashtra will vote for Congress candidate Imran Pratapgarhi with an aim to defeat the BJP.
The counting of votes began after 1 am on Saturday following the order of the Election Commission. The counting could not start at its scheduled time on Friday after the BJP approached the EC alleging rules violation by three MLAs of MVA. On the other hand, the MVA had challenged the vote of one BJP MLA.
After the counting, Sanjay Raut alleged that the Election Commission favoured the BJP.
"Election Commission made our one vote invalid. We objected to two votes but no action was taken on that. Election Commission favoured them (BJP)," he said.