MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena's citadel in the Konkan has been shaken. Maharashtra Revenue Minister Narayan Rane's victory in the Malvan-Kankavali Assembly by-election has come as no surprise. But the fact that the former Shiv Sainik forced his Shiv Sena opponent to forfeit his deposit is being viewed as a body blow to the Sena.

Top Shiv Sena leaders, including Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray, had campaigned extensively for their candidate Parshuram Uparkar. And Bal Thackeray, who rarely leaves Mumbai these days because of his health, addressed the closing rally of the campaign where he announced his "retirement" from campaign politics. Despite all this, Mr. Rane romped home with a margin of 63,372 votes and Mr. Uparkar could garner only 15,244 votes.

The Congress now reduces the gap between it and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to just two seats.

The Congress celebrated the victory Priya Dutt, daughter of the late Sunil Dutt, from the Mumbai North-West Parliamentary constituency. She defeated the Sena's Madhukar Sarpotdar by an impressive 1,72,043 votes despite the low voter turnout. The 39-year-old first time MP is also a first-time mother. She gave birth to a child just days before the election.

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