BJP rebel Gokul Gite (L) defeated ruling Shiv Sena candidate Narendra Darade (R) in the Maharashtra Legislative Council's (MLC) Nashik local authorities constituency.MUMBAI: BJP rebel Gokul Gite scored a surprise victory in the Maharashtra Legislative Council's (MLC) Nashik local authorities constituency on Monday, defeating ruling Shiv Sena candidate Narendra Darade.Counting was held for the June 18 elections to 11 seats in the state legislature's Upper House.According to election officials, Gite secured 357 votes against Darade's 248, winning by a margin of 109 votes. His victory came as a surprise, as the ruling candidate was expected to mount a strong challenge.Darade belongs to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, which has been in focus following a rebellion by six of the nine Shiv Sena (UBT) Lok Sabha MPs, with two of them confirming their switch to the ruling Sena.He had campaigned in the constituency along with several elected representatives ahead of the election.Shiv Sena MLC Manisha Kayande expressed reservations over the outcome, saying, "There is a serious doubt about the result as we were assured that our candidate would be supported."A visibly upset Darade left the counting centre after it became clear that a majority of local representatives had voted in favour of Gite.The Nashik constituency had witnessed controversy after Gite announced his candidature against Darade. He had alleged that Darade used foul language against him.Gite entered the fray as an independent candidate against Darade, the official nominee of the ruling alliance. Senior Mahayuti leaders, including chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, BJP minister Girish Mahajan and Shiv Sena minister Uday Samant, had intervened to resolve the issue.Following extensive discussions, Gite suspended his campaign, but his name remained on the ballot as the deadline for withdrawal had already passed.Though Gite had said he would not continue campaigning after meetings with senior leaders, he clarified on Monday that he had only halted his personal campaign while his supporters continued canvassing.The biennial elections were originally notified for 17 seats, including one bypoll, but voting was required in only 11 constituencies as candidates of the Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Sunetra Pawar's NCP, secured unopposed victories in six seats.BJP candidates Arun Lakhani from Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli and Prajakt Tanpure from Ahilyanagar, NCP nominees Vikram Kakade from Pune and Aniket Tatkare from Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, and Shiv Sena candidates Ravindra Phatak from Thane and Dushyant Chaturvedi from Yavatmal were elected unopposed.Tanpure joined the BJP shortly before filing his nomination papers. The Ahilyanagar leader, a nephew of NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil, had earlier served as a minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.The Opposition MVA alleged that the ruling alliance used money and muscle power to force rival candidates to withdraw from the contest.(With inputs from PTI)