Overview
- Officials declared the result after Wednesday’s count at the Kaij tehsil office, with Swarupanand Deshmukh defeating Ashwini Deshmukh by 92 votes.
- Following Tuesday’s vote, election officials said 1,744 of 2,084 registered voters cast ballots, a turnout of about 84 percent.
- The seat fell vacant after sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh was abducted and killed in December 2024 following his effort to stop an extortion attempt linked to a wind power firm.
- The investigation has moved into court, as the state CID filed a chargesheet of more than 1,200 pages and a special MCOCA judge earlier rejected accused aide Walmik Karad’s discharge.
- Mourning a slain leader, the community chose a new sarpanch who pledged village development and said he will keep pressing for justice in the case.