Video: 5-year-old decides fate of ward 220, settles first ever tie of BMC elections
5-year-old Yashika Salunkhe picked the name from the lottery to decide the winner of ward 220
The battle for South Mumbai’s Ward 220 was by far the most closely contested fight yesterday, where the fate of over 55,000 residents was decided on the basis of a lottery picked by a five-year-old.
In all, ten candidates were in the fray for the ward, which includes areas like Kamathipura and Grant Road.
After the first count, Shiv Sena candidate Surendra Bagalkar won with a margin of three votes. As soon as the counting concluded, BJPs Atul Shah, who had come second, demanded a recount.
The recounting was done three times in the presence of the candidates and their representatives, but the results ended in a tie each time. Both Bagalkar and Shah had got 5,946 votes.
Finally, per the election commission mandate, a lottery was used to decide the winner among Sena’s sitting corporator and the BJP spokesperson.
Since both parties were neck to neck at the time, senior leaders from both Sena and BJP, along with BMC chief Ajoy Mehta, rushed to the spot. BJP’s Vinod Tawde and Sena leaders Sanjay Raut and Arvind Sawant were among those present for the lottery.
To settle the first ever tie in the history of BMC polls, the names of both candidates were written on separate pieces of paper and thrown into a metal box.
Then a five-year-old, granddaughter of the school’s security guard, was summoned and asked to pick one. The girl, Yashika Salunkhe, picked the chit with Atul Shah written on it.
“I never anticipated such a thing in the ward. But I am happy and satisfied that I won the lottery, which I consider God’s gift. I am happy I was able to remove Sena from the ward, which it has governed for over two decades,” Shah said after winning.
With Shah’s victory, BJP ended with a tally of 82, compared to Sena’s 84. Since neither managed to get a clear majority, the fate of the 227 seat BMC still lies in the balance.
Related: Ward-wise list of all winning corporators of BMC election 2017
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