Mumbai:The ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance registered a landslide victory in Maharashtra as the Election Commission of India declared the final results Saturday evening.
Of all 288 Maharashtra assembly seats, BJP won 132 and its allies Shiv Sena and NCP bagged 57 and 41 seats respectively. The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was handed one of the worst defeats in recent history as the three main constituents of the alliance could manage wins in just 50 seats -- Congress 16, Shiv Sena (UBT) 20, and NCP (SP) 10.
The counting of votes in the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly elections began at 8 am on Saturday and the final result was published by the ECI late evening.
The BJP was at the forefront of this spectacular performance, comprehensively managing to buck the anti-incumbency and emerge as the largest party in the state pocketing 132 of the 149 seats it contested in the politically significant western state.
BJP's success was led by its senior leader and state deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, who is likely to become the Chief Minister now, although the saffron party or its allies have not announced any names so far.
The results come as a fillip for the BJP, which won an unprecedented hat-trick in Haryana last month, and help the party overcome some of its reverses in the general elections where it bagged just 240 seats.
Voters in the politically significant western state of Maharashtra, which sends 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha and gave the MVA a decisive 30 seats, clearly decided to go against the trend of that parliamentary victory just five months ago.
'Ek Hai Toh Safe Hai': Fadnavis Says No Row Over CM Post
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday hailed the performance of the ruling Mahayuti in the assembly polls and credited it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the latter's 'ek hai toh safe hai' slogan. In a post on X, he said, "Ek Hain toh Safe hain' 'Modi hain toh Mumkin hain'. The slogan was a staple of all speeches of Modi during the campaign.
Addressing a press conference, Fadnavis said there was no dispute over the chief minister's post and leaders of Mahayuti will decide on the issue together as the saffron party-led coalition is heading for a landslide victory.
He Fadnavis said the results of the Maharashtra assembly polls show that the state supports PM Narendra Modi and also thanked women voters. "The opposition’s efforts to propagate a fake narrative, and polarise voters based on religion was foiled by masses," said Fadnavis.
The deputy CM said he succeeded in breaking the 'chakravyuh' of opposition due to the support of voters, the BJP team and party leaders. With some leaders in BJP demanding that Fadnavis don the mantle of the next CM, the BJP stalwart said there was no row over the CM's post in Mahayuti- comprising BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP.
"Leaders of Mahayuti parties will decide (on next CM)," Fadnavis told reporters in Mumbai.
CM, Deputies Register Victories