The ruling Mahayuti alliance secured a commanding victory in the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, winning 16 of the 17 seats for which results were declared on Monday.BJP workers celebrate as BJP candidate Rajiv (Raju) Poddar wins the Maharashtra Legislative Council by-election from Nagpur Local Authorities Constituency, in Nagpur on Monday. (Ranjit Deshmukh/ANI)Polling for 17 seats was held on June 18, though six Mahayuti candidates had already been elected unopposed before voting, giving the alliance an early advantage. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the biggest winner with 11 seats, while the Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde secured three seats and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar won two.The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) failed to open its account in the elections. The MLC result comes at a time when Uddhav's Sena is already reeling with a rebellion of its Lok Sabha MPs. Also Read: Shiv Sena UBT crisis LIVE: Rebel MPs to join Shinde Sena, presser soon; Aaditya Thackeray makes ‘cowards’ jibeWho are the winning candidates?Among those elected unopposed were Ravindra Phatak (Thane) and Dushyant Chaturvedi (Yavatmal) from the Shiv Sena, Aniket Tatkare (Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg) and Vikram Kakade (Pune) from the NCP, and Arun Lakhani (Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli) and Prajakt Tanpure (Ahilyanagar) from the BJP.The BJP's winning candidates included Suhas Shirshat (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Jalna), Avinash Brahmankar (Bhandara-Gondia), Dhairyashil Kadam (Sangli-Satara), Rajendra Raut (Solapur), Basavaraj Patil (Dharashiv-Latur-Beed), Rajiv Potdar (Nagpur), Nandkishor Mahajan (Jalgaon), Pravin Pote (Amravati) and Amar Rajurkar (Nanded). Shiv Sena candidate Saiyed Khan won from the Parbhani-Hingoli constituency.The only seat not won by an official Mahayuti candidate was Nashik, where Independent candidate and BJP rebel Gokul Gite defeated Shiv Sena nominee Narendra Darade.Nashik win by BJP rebel fuels Opposition attackAccording to a report by The Hindu, Nashik witnessed a prolonged tussle over seat-sharing within the ruling alliance. Gite had filed his nomination as an Independent after differences over candidature. Though he later announced that he would not campaign following interventions by BJP and Shiv Sena leaders, his name remained on the ballot as the deadline for withdrawing nominations had passed.After his victory, Gite said he had honoured his commitment to stop campaigning but credited his supporters for the result. He also said he would consult his party workers before taking any decision on a possible offer to join the Shiv Sena, The Hindu reported.The result triggered sharp reactions from Opposition leaders. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut claimed that the BJP had effectively defeated a Shiv Sena candidate in Nashik. Congress leader Satej "Bunty" Patil warned that the BJP was seeking to weaken its allies, pointing to Jalgaon, where the Shiv Sena stepped aside in favour of a BJP candidate.Local Shiv Sena leaders expressed dissatisfaction, arguing their own nominee could have won had the party contested the seat, The Hindu reported.Reacting to the outcome, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said, "It is so hilarious that I cannot speak. This is merely a trailer," The Hindu reported.MVA draws blankThe election proved to be a disappointing outing for the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which failed to win a single seat.Meanwhile, Maharashtra Legislative Council Leader of Opposition and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve said the Opposition had fought the election to protect the Constitution.(With inputs from ANI)