Andheri East bypoll result: Counting of votes begins

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The counting of votes for the Andheri East byelection began on Sunday morning at a civic-run school in Mumbai.

According to PTI, as many as 200 officials were involved in the counting process which commenced at 8 am. There will be 19 rounds of counting.

The Mumbai Police have deputed 300 personnel to maintain law and order, according to an official statement, reported PTI.

Voting for the by-election, necessitated due to the death of sitting Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke in May this year, was held on November 3 and witnessed a low voter turnout of 31.74 per cent.

Also Read: Andheri bypoll: Only 31 per cent voters turn out

Ramesh Latke's wife Rutuja Latke, the candidate of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), is expected to win comfortably after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) withdrew its nominee from the byelection.

She is pitted against six independent candidates.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, both constituents of the MVA, have supported Rutuja Latke's candidature.

This is the first electoral contest in Maharashtra after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government collapsed in June following a revolt by a section of Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde.

(With inputs from PTI)