Setback for Cong as top guns, dynasts lose plot & bite Maha dust

THE results of the Maharashtra assembly elections on Saturday came as a severe jolt to prominent members of the Congress, many of whom come from political dynasties.

- SUDHIR SURYAWANSHI

Balasaheb Thorat, the Congress legislative leader and a chief ministerial aspirant who had previously won elections eight times, lost to a relatively lesser-known Shiv Sena candidate, Amol Khatal, in his traditional constituency of Sangamner. He lost by 10,560 votes.

Similarly, state party president Nana Patole, another potential candidate for chief minister if the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) formed the government, managed to win by a narrow margin of just 208 votes against BJP's Avinash Brahamankar.