<span style="color: #222222;">In a setback to the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra, BJP candidate Samadhan Autade on Sunday won the by-election to Pandharpur-Mangalvedha Assembly seat in Solapur district by defeating his nearest NCP rival by a margin of over 3,700 votes, officials said. NCP shares power with Shiv Sena and Congress in the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government. <br />''<br />''The NCP and opposition BJP were in a direct fight in this by poll, which was necessitated following the death of Bharat Bhalke due to post-COVID-19 complications in November last year. As per the district election officials, Autade defeated Bhalke by a margin of 3,733 votes. While Autade polled 1,09,450 votes, Bhalke bagged 1,05,717. A total of 2,27,421 votes, including postal ballots, were counted, they said.</span><br />