Andheri East bypoll 2022 result: Rutuja Latke of Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena wins; 12,776 people opt for NOTA

MUMBAI: Rutuja Latke, the candidate of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), won the byelection to Andheri (East) assembly seat in Mumbai defeating six other candidates who contested against her.
After 19 rounds of counting of votes, Latke secured 66,247 votes (76.85 per cent).
Interestingly, 12,776 people opted for NOTA (None of the Above).
Independent candidate Neena Khedekar got 1,511 votes, whereas Aapki Apni Party (Peoples) candidate Bala Venkatesh Vinayak Nadar polled 1,506 votes.

Voting for the by-election was necessitated due to the death of sitting Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke in May this year. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had withdrew its nominee from the byelection.
BJP leader Ashish Shelar congratulated Latke but said that she won due to help of BJP.
"Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray's group supported by Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and dozens of other parties did not get more votes. If BJP had contested the election, their defeat would have been certain."

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.