Shiv Sena's Trupti Sawant beats Narayan Rane in Bandra in bypoll

MUMBAI: Former CM and senior Congress leader and Narayan Rane on Wednesday lost the assembly bypoll from Bandra East constituency to Shiv Sena’s Trupti Sawant, a rookie, by over 19,000 votes, denting the image of the Maharashtra Congress leadership. The Bandra bypoll was a closely followed contest, mainly because Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray’s residence Matoshree falls in this constituency.

So, in a sense, Bandra East is always viewed as Thackeray’s home turf, and Rane — who before 2014 looked almost invincible — was out there to challenge the Thackerays. "We will fulfil the promises made to the voters of Bandra," said Thackeray. This result is also interpreted as a setback for the state Congress, since this was the first poll that took place after Ashok Chavan and Sanjay Nirupam took charge as state Congress chief and city Congress chief, respectively.