'NOTA' is runners-up in two Maharashtra Assembly seats
Latur/Pune, Oct 24: The 'NOTA' option secured second position in two Assembly seats in Maharashtra, reflecting disenchantment with candidates in the fray in these constituencies.
One of them was the Latur Rural Assembly segment in central Maharashtra, from where late Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's son Dhiraj posted a handsome victory in his maiden poll outing.
According to the results announced on late Thursday evening, Dhiraj Deshmukh, the Congress candidate, secured 1,35,006 votes (67.64 per cent).
The 'None of the Above' (NOTA) clinched 27,500 votes (13.78 per cent) to secure second position, relegating other candidates in fray from the seat to inferior positions.
Shiv Sena candidate Sachin Deshmukh, Dhiraj Deshmukh's main rival, stood third, garnering 13,459 votes (6.78 per cent).
Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi's Manchakrao Done received 12,966 votes to clinch fourth slot (6.5 per cent).
Latur Rural was given to the Shiv Sena by the BJP in exchange for Ausa during seat-sharing negotiations between the saffron allies.
There were a total of 15 candidates in the Latur Rural constituency and 16th option was NOTA.
As many as 27,449 votes were registered for NOTA on EVMs, whereas 51 were postal votes for the option.
The total number of valid votes on EVMs in the seat stood at 1,99,599, while the postal ballot count was 563.
The NOTA also ended up as the runner-up in the Palus Kadegaon assembly seat in Sangli district.
In this seat in western Maharashtra, Vishwajeet Kadam of the Congress bagged 1,71,497 votes to emerge the winner, while at No. 2 was NOTA, which received 20,631 votes.
In the third place was Sanjay Vibhute of the Shiv Sena who got 8,976 votes.
The NOTA option was first introduced in 2014 following an apex court verdict a year earlier.
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Compromised PM didn't sign trade deal with US, but a bargain for Adani's release: Rahul
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of signing a trade deal with the US only to secure the "release" of billionaire businessman Gautam Adani.
"Compromised PM did not strike a trade deal, but a bargain for Adani's release," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X, after reports that the US has agreed to settle the lawsuit that accused Adani of hiding alleged bribery.
The US government has agreed to settle the lawsuit filed against Adani, who is accused of duping investors by concealing that his company's huge solar energy project in India was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme, according to court filings published Thursday.
Reacting to the reports, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said it was now clear why the PM agreed to the "hopelessly one-sided Indo-US trade deal that was really a steal by the US".
"And it is also clear why he abruptly halted Operation Sindoor on May 10, 2025, acting on President Trump's threats rather than on our national interest. Reportedly, the Trump Administration is about to drop all charges of corruption against Modani," he said on X.
"How much more compromised can the PM get?" Ramesh asked.
In the lawsuit filed in late 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, who is a director at the group's renewable energy unit Adani Green Energy Ltd, of agreeing to pay about USD 265 million in bribes to Indian government officials between approximately 2020 and 2024 to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts on terms that expected to yield USD 2 billion of profit over 20 years.
It was alleged in the lawsuit that Adani Group raised USD 2 billion in loans and bonds, including from US firms, on the backs of false and misleading statements related to the firm's anti-bribery practices and policies.
The ports-to-energy conglomerate had denied the allegations.
