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
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputies Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar won in their respective assembly constituencies. Shinde won by a margin of 1,20,717 votes over his nearest rival Kedar Prakash Dighe of Shiv Sena (UBT) from Kopri-Pachpakhadi assembly seat.
Fadnavis registered victory by a margin of 39,710 votes from Nagpur South-West and Pawar by 1,00,899 votes in Baramati seat, where he was locked in a tussle with his nephew Yugendra Pawar.
In a setback to Congress, Senior Congress party leaders Prithviraj Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat were defeated in the Karad (south) and Sangamner assembly constituencies respectively.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and sitting MLA Aaditya Thackeray won in Worli assembly seat in Mumbai by 8,801 votes, the poll officials said.
Counting for all the 288 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly began at 8 am at 288 counting centres under the supervision of as many counting observers. The final turnout in the polls, held on November 20, was 66.05 per cent, up from 61.1 per cent in 2019.
Congress wins Nanded Lok Sabha bypoll
Congress candidate Ravindra Chavan on Saturday won the Nanded Lok Sabha bypoll defeating his nearest rival Santukrao Hambarde of BJP by 1457 votes, an official said. Chavan polled 586788 votes while Hambarde garnered 585331 votes, the official said.
The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of sitting Congress MP Vasant Chavan on August 26. Ravindra Chavan is his son.
Which Party Contested How Many Seats
In the November 20 polling, the BJP, which leads the ruling Mahayuti alliance, contested 149 assembly seats while its partners Shiv Sena contested 81 and NCP 59 seats respectively. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were among the star campaigners of Mahayuti in this election.
Among the partners of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, the Congress contested 101 seats, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) 95, and NCP (Sharad Pawar) 86 seats respectively.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) fielded its candidates in 237 out of the total 288 seats. The AIMIM contested 17 seats. Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena also fielded candidates at key seats in Mumbai and Pune, along with a few others in rural Maharashtra. About 2,086 out of the total 4,136 contesting candidates were independents.
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