Vilas Nandgude, an independent candidate, counted himself out of the race today and said that the Chinchwad assembly constituency — electorate-wise the biggest in the state — may either elect Laxman Jagtap, another independent candidate, or Shrirang Barne of the Shiv Sena, as MLA.

Nandgude, while counting himself out, said either Jagtap or Barne would win. “I believe the fight would be between Jagtap and Barne. I will finish at the third spot,” said Nandgude.

Till the voting day, Nandgude and supporters were tom-tomming that the fight would be between him and either Barne or Jagtap. Political observers, especially in Pimple Nilakh and Wakad, also believed that Nandgude would put up a good fight and might even spring a surprise. Nandgude added that though be believed that the fight would be between Jagtap and Barne, the ultimate winner would be Jagtap because, Nandgude alleged, Jagtap had distributed huge amount of money two-three days before the voting. “Barne also distributed money to buy voters, but Jagtap did it in a big way,” he said.

When contacted, Jagtap denied that he distributed money to voters. “First, they alleged that I was terrorising voters and now they say I distributed money. People need excuses,” he said. Stressing that he would win by a huge margin of 60,000 votes, Jagtap said his premise is based on the crowd support that he got while touring the constituency. “After deciding to contest as an Independent, I went around the constituency as many as four times. The crowd support I received was overwhelming,” he said.

... contd.