NASHIK, July 1: State Health Minister Daulatrao Aher's `Samaj Vikas Panel' on Monday gained a landslide victory in the elections for a new board of directors of the largest educational institution in north Maharashtra, Maratha Vidhya Prasarak Samaj, ending the decade-long rule of former Congress MP Vasant Nivrutti Pawar.

Aher was elected the new president when he defeated former Congress MLA and Nashik Mayor Shantaram Wavre with a margin of 1,220 votes. Sitting general secretary of the samaj Vasant Pawar, who had been in the chair for 13 years and accused of highhanded style of working and irregularities, was defeated by former Congress MLA Malojirao Mogal of the Aher panel. Peasants and Workers Party leader and former leader of the Opposition in State Legislative Council Vithalrao Hande was elected chairman defeating sitting chairman Manikrao Boraste of Congress.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.