Maharashtra Council polls: MVA snatches Amravati graduates seat from BJP
Mumbai, Feb 3: In a boost to the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), its candidate Dhiraj Lingade won the Amravati division graduates constituency of the Maharashtra Legislative Council on Friday, defeating sitting legislator Ranjit Patil of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Counting of votes for the Amravati graduates seat lasted nearly 30 hours as it ended at 1.30 pm, even as the process had begun at 8 am on Thursday.
The results of four other seats of the Upper House of the state legislature were declared on Thursday, and two of those four seats were won by the MVA - an alliance of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress.
In Amravati, MVA's Lingade bagged 46,344 votes, while BJP's sitting MLC Ranjit Patil secured 42,962 votes, an official said.
The counting got delayed because no candidate could secure the necessary quota of votes required for the win, the official said.
After the counting of votes ended, the figures were sent to the Election Commission for approval, and the results were declared at around 4 pm.
There were 23 candidates in the fray in Amravati, of whom 21 were eliminated in the counting of second preference votes. A total of 94,200 votes were polled, of which 8,387 turned invalid, the official said.
Voting for these five Council seats - three teachers segments (falling in Nagpur, Konkan and Aurangabad divisions) and two graduates constituencies (Nashik and Amravati divisions) - was held on January 30 and counting began on Thursday morning. Teachers and graduates fulfilling certain criteria and enrolled as voters formed the electoral college for these elections.
The ruling BJP-Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena combine suffered a setback as MVA-backed candidates clinched three of the five Legislative Council seats. These were the first MLC polls after the Eknath Shinde-led government took charge in June last year. However, there were no candidates directly fielded by either of the Shiv Sena factions (led by Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray each).
In the Nagpur teachers constituency, MVA-backed independent candidate Sudhakar Adbale trumped BJP-supported candidate Nagorao Ganar.
NCP candidate Vikram Kale won the Aurangabad teachers constituency seat defeating BJP nominee Kiran Patil.
The BJP managed to win the Konkan division teachers constituency. BJP candidate Dnyaneshwar Mhatre defeated MVA-backed nominee Balaram Patil.
Independent candidate Satyajit Tambe, whose rebellion rocked the state Congress ahead of polls, won the Nashik graduates constituency comfortably.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
