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Congress-RPI combine sweeps Vidarbha

The Congress-Republican Party of India alliance is heading for a clean sweep of all the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region.

The alliance has already won the Yavatmal seat with Uttamrao Patil (Congress), defeating sitting BJP member Rajabhau Thakare by a margin of 54,673 votes.

Voting trends in the remaining 10 seats show that candidates of the combine are leading over their immediate rivals, though by small margins.

In the 1996 poll, the Congress had secured only the two seats -- Ramtek and Bhandara. The BJP had won six seats -- Nagpur, Chandrapur, Chimur, Yavatmal, Akola and Wardha. Its alliance partner Shiv Sena had bagged three seats -- Buldana, Amravati, Washim.

In the Amravati and Chimur seats, RPI candidates R S Gavai and Jogendra Kawade are leading.

Until 1995, Vidarbha had been the stronghold of the Congress. The party suffered severe setbacks in the 1995 assembly and 1996 Lok Sabha polls.

UNI

Elections '98

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