Shiv Sena retains Palghar Assembly seat

Shiv Sena on Tuesday retained the Palghar Assembly seat with its nominee Amit Ghoda defeating Congress candidate Rajendra Gavit by 18,948 votes.

While Ghoda polled 67,129 votes, Gavit secured 48,181 votes.

The by-poll was necessitated following the death of sitting Shiv Sena MLA Krishna Arjun Ghoda.

Ghoda passed away on May 24, 2015 following a heart attack and his son Amit was given a ticket by the Sena for the by-poll.

Though it was a multi-cornered contest, the real fight was between Amit Ghoda and Gavit, former Maharashtra minister.

The other contestants in the fray included former Sena leader Manisha Nimkar, who this time contested on a Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) ticket, Chandrakant Vartha (CPI-M) and Dileep A Dumada (Bahujan Mukti Party).