Mumbai, Nov 2 (IANS): In a morale booster for Maharashtra's ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi, Congress candidate Jitesh Antapurkar won the Deglug-Biloli assembly by-election in Nanded district with a huge margin.

Of the total 12 candidates in the fray in the SC reserved seat, the MVA nominee Antapurkar secured around 108,840 votes compared with his nearest Bharatiya Janata Party rival Subhash Sabane getting 66,907 votes and the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi contender Dr. Uttam Ingole left trailing far behind along with the remaining 9 in the fray.

Pleased MVA leaders including Congress PWD Minister Ashok Chavan, Nationalist Congress Party Minister and state President Jayant Patil and Shiv Sena Minister Aditya Thackeray welcomed Antapurkar's handsome victory in the by-elections, necessitated by the death of the sitting MLA Raosaheb Antapurkar.

Aditya Thackeray said the MVA candidate's victory is "a symbol of the faith reposed by the people in the MVA government", headed by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

NCP's Patil said that despite all attempts at disruptive politics indulged in by the Opposition BJP, the people of Maharashtra have unequivocally supported the MVA and its progressive policies.

District strongman and Congress' Chavan commented that the victory proves that the people of the state have endorsed the solid developmental agenda of the MVA government over the past two years.

Making it a prestige issue, top state leaders of the BJP had vigorously campaigned for the October 30 polls which witnessed an impressive voter turnout of nearly 64 per cent.