Comfortable win for Dalwai

Dalwai,who also hails from Ratnagiri and is an MLC,secured 175 votes while Mane could garner 105 votes.

The Assembly has 288 members,but one seat is vacant following the death of MNS MLA Ramesh Wanjale. Of the 287 voters,282 voted while two votes (one each of the Congress and the BJP) were rendered invalid.

From the treasury benches,all 82 Congress MLAs and 16 Independents supporting the government voted.

However,three of the 62 NCP MLAs — Vijay Kumar Gavit,Vallabh Benke and K P Patil — remained absent. From the Opposition,all 46 BJP MLAs,all 45 Sena MLAs and 11 of the 12 MNS MLAs voted. MNS MLA Shishir Shinde and CPM MLA Rajaram Ozare stayed away.

The byelection was necessitated following the resignation of Prithviraj Chavan after he was appointed the Chief Minister.

Dalwai said he would focus on the woes of Muslims and citizens of the state. He said the number of school dropouts and child labourers among Muslims was alarming and that he would make efforts to set things right.

He said he would also take up issues of the state in Parliament.

On his victory,Dalwai said it was a triumph of secular philosophy of the Congress party and the blessings of Sonia Gandhi. He claimed he had worked without asking for anything in return for the past decade and was ultimately rewarded.