Patil confident of huge victory margin

Maharashtra BJP president and state minister Chandrakant Patil, who is contesting from Kothrud constituency here, claimed on Monday that he will win with a huge margin.

Patil was speaking to reporters before heading for Kolhapur, his native city, to cast his vote.

"Since the 2014 elections, people's faith in politics and politicians has increased, and the reason is the transparent government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said.

He was seeing huge enthusiasm among voters since Monday morning as the polling began, and "body language" of voters showed that the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance will win a huge victory, Patil said.

He will win the Kothrud seat by a margin of "1.60 lakh votes", he claimed.

The BJP fielded Patil from Kothrud by denying ticket to its sitting MLA Medha Kulkarni, sparking protests in parts of constituency.

Patil's main rival is MNS's Kishor Shinde, who has been supported by Congress and NCP.