Maharashtra Election Result 2024 Highlights: BJP-led Mahayuti retains power, MVA bites dust

BJP candidate Parag Shah, contesting from Ghatkopar East in Mumbai Suburban, is the wealthiest candidate in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, with assets worth over Rs 3,383 crore, according to a report by ADR. Following Shah is Prashant Ramsheth Thakur of the BJP, with assets worth Rs 475 crore, and Mangal Prabhat Lodha, also from BJP, with Rs 447 crore total assets.

Pradeep Gupta’s Axis My India predicted that the Mahayuti is expected to get between 178-200 seats, while the MVA is predicted to secure between 81-102 seats. In terms of vote share, the Mahayuti is predicted to get 48%, while the vote share for MVA is predicted to be secure 37%.

As for CVoter, it gave advantage to none of the coalitions. According to its predictions, the Mahayuti is expected to get 112 seats, while the MVA is predicted to secure 104 seats.

While most exit polls predict a victory for the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, three exit poll predictions claimed that neither the Mahayuti nor the Maha Vikas Aghadi would secure a decisive majority to form the next government in Maharashtra. In the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, the magic figure is 145.

Nine exit polls that were released on November 20, as soon as polling ended at 6 PM, showed that the Mahayuti has an advantage with pollsters predicting seats ranging from 118-175 in the 288-member Assembly, while the MVA numbers range between 69-150.

Mumbai police have issued an order prohibiting gatherings within a 300-meter radius of all 36 counting centers across the city, which has 36 assembly constituencies. Under the order, which is in effect from 6 AM on November 21 until midnight on November 24, only officials involved in the election process or public servants on duty are allowed near the centres. The police have warned against loitttering or forming any assemblies within the restricted areas.

From Mahim to Baramati, several seats in Maharashtra are witnessing intense electoral battle. Incumbent Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde contested from the Kopri Pachpakhdi Assembly seat, while Maharashtra Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar have contested from the Nagpur South-West and Baramati Assembly seats respectively. Other prominent seats in Maharashtra include Bandra West, Bandra East, Worli, Parli, Aurangabad, Sakola, Borivali, Dindoshi, Mahim, Colaba, Nandgaon, among others.

Shiv Sena candidate from Mumba Devi assembly seat, Shaina NC, visited the Siddhivinayak Temple of Lord Ganesh in Mumbai to offer prayers ahead of counting for Maharashtra Assembly elections.

Speaking to ANI, she said that the Mahayuti alliance of the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP is going to come to power. She said that people are going to vote in their favour, and the ‘Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana’ has a big contribution in it.

A three-tier security system is in place for counting of votes polled in the 21 Assembly segments in Pune district in Maharashtra. Counting of votes for eight constituencies in Pune city will take place at Food Corporation of India (FCI) godown in the Koregaon Park area. The counting of votes of seats in rural parts of Pune district will take place in respective constituencies, said collector and returning officer Suhas Divase.

The counting will start on Saturday (November 23) at 8 AM with postal ballots followed by EVM votes. A three-tier security system has been put in place for protection of EVMs, according to guidelines set by ECI. The first layer is being manned by central security forces, the second by the State Reserve Police Force and the third by the state police. Strong rooms housing EVMs are under CCTV surveillance and its footage is being made available to candidates. The strong rooms will be opened in the presence of observers and candidates, and then the EVMs will be brought out and taken to counting tables.

The counting will start on Saturday (November 23) at 8 AM with postal ballots followed by EVM votes. A three-tier security system has been put in place for protection of EVMs, according to guidelines set by ECI. The first layer is being manned by central security forces, the second by the State Reserve Police Force and the third by the state police. Strong rooms housing EVMs are under CCTV surveillance and its footage is being made available to candidates. The strong rooms will be opened in the presence of observers and candidates, and then the EVMs will be brought out and taken to counting tables.

Ahead of counting, NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar alleged that 25-30 BJP workers at midnight tried to enter the strong room where EVMs of Karjat-Jamkhed constituency, from where he contested, are kept. Pawar, who is the sitting MLA from the Karjat-Jamkhed in Ahilyanagar (formerly Ahmednagar) district, is pitted against BJP leader and former state minister Ram Shinde.

Pawar thanked party workers and CRPF personnel for foiling the attempt. He claimed the police, “under BJP influence”, harassed them instead of cooperating. Pawar urged the Election Commission of India to investigate the incident.

Ahead of the results, senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said the MVA will form the next government in Maharashtra. Thorat, who is speculated to be Congress’ frontrunner for the CM’s post, expressed confidence on the MVA win. Thorat is seeking re-election as an MLA for the ninth term from the Sangamner constituency and is pitted against Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena’s Amol Khatal in this polls.

The final voter turnout in Maharashtra assembly polls was 66.05 per cent as per EVM votes, up from 61.1 per cent in 2019, according to Election Commission of India. The highest voter turnout was recorded Kolhapur at 76.33%, followed by 75.26% in Gadchiroli. The lowest voter turnout was recorded in Mumbai city at 52.07% and 55.95% in the metropolis’ suburban district.

Voters in Maharashtra on November 20 sealed the fate of 4,136 candidates for 288 assembly seats. The total number of candidates in this year’s election rose by 28% compared to 2019.

In the ruling Mahayuti alliance, the BJP contested 149 seats, Shiv Sena fielded candidates in 81 constituencies, and the NCP, led by Ajit Pawar, ran in 59 seats.

The MVA coalition with Congress, which put up 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) with 95, and NCP (SP) fielding 86 candidates. Other parties, including the Bahujan Samaj Party and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), also participated in the election. BSP ran 237 candidates, while AIMIM fielded 17. A total of 2,086 Independent candidates contested in this polls. Over 150 constituencies saw rebel candidates from both Mahayuti and MVA alliances contesting against their party’s official nominees.

On the counting day, strong room is opened in the presence of candidates, their authorised representatives, RO/ARO and ECI Observer under videography. Only Control Units of the polled EVMs are brought to the Counting Hall(s) under security, under CCTV coverage and in the presence of candidates/their agents. Round-wise CUs are brought to the counting tables from Strong Rooms. All of these are done under CCTV surveillance.

On the counting day, before retrieving the result from the Control Units, the seals are verified, and unique serial number of CU is tallied before the counting agents deputed by the candidates. Counting agents can verify the polled votes displayed on CU with that of Form-17C. Candidate-wise polled votes are recorded in Part-II of Form-17C and signature of counting agents are obtained thereof.

EVMs & VVPATs are stored back in Strong Room in the presence of candidates/their representatives till the completion of the election petition period, according to Election Commission of India.

In the 2019 Maharashtra elections, the BJP won 105 seats, undivided Shiv Sena 56, undivided NCP 54, Congress 44, independents 13 and others 16 seats. With these numbers, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), comprising the BJP and the Shiv Sena, came to power. However, things took a different turn and the alliance fell off. President’s rule was imposed in the state. Then, Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as CM, and Ajit Pawar was his deputy. However, in three days, both resigned, just before floor days.

Later, the MVA was formed, which comprised of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, and Uddhav Thackeray was sworn in as CM in November 2019. Two and a half years later, following a rebellion inside Shiv Sena, this government crumbled too. Later, the Eknath Shinde-faction of the Shiv Sena, Ajit Pawar faction of NCP and the BJP joined hands and formed the government in the state. Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the CM, while Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis remained his deputies. This arrangement remains till date.

Maharashtra has witnessed an intense electoral battle between the Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalitions. The MVA consists of Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar), and Congress, while the Mahayuti is an alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), and NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar.

As per ECI data, a total of 9.7 crore citizens in Maharashtra were eligible to vote in the polls that took place on November 20. A total of 47,392 centenarians, 22,22,704 voters in the age group of 18-19 years, were eligible to vote. The state has a total of 9,70,25,119 registered voters, including 5,00,22,739 men, 4,69,96,279 women and 6,101third genders.

-Date of Issue of Gazette Notification: 22.10.2024

-Last Date of making nominations: 29.10.2024

-Date for Scrutiny of Nominations: 30.10.2024

-Last date for the withdrawal of

candidatures: 04.11.2024

-Date of Poll: 20.11.2024

-Date of Counting: 23.11.2024

-Date before which election shall be completed: 25.11.2024

The Congress party on Friday appointed observers for Maharashtra and Jharkhand to oversee the post-election scenarios. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge deputed Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel and G Parameshwara as AICC observers to Maharashtra with immediate effect, according to a statement by the party.

The Election Commission of India had announced that the voting across the 288 Assembly constituencies will be held in a single phase on November 20. The counting of votes or results will be announced on November 23. The current term of the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly will ends on November 26. Among the 288 seats, 234 are general constituencies, 29 are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and 25 are for Scheduled Tribes (ST).

Visuals from a counting centre in key seat Mahim. Counting of votes will begin from 8 AM today.

According to ECI, the timely release of round-wise data is crucial for ensuring a single, reliable source of information. The counting results, entered by the Returning Officers, are available for public viewing on the “Trends and Results” section of the ECI website at http://results.eci.gov.in/. The website has been upgraded with new features, including a map view, to improve user experience.

The results are displayed using infographics and are shown on large screens outside counting halls or in public spaces via Trends TV. Moreover, the trends and results can also be accessed through the VHA mobile app, as per ECI.

The Maharashtra election results will be released at 8 AM. The latest constituency-wise trends and results for the Maharashtra Assembly elections will be available on the official website of the Election Commission of India (ECI), which will be available at https://results.eci.gov.in/. Further, the results will also be available on the Voter Helpline App, which is available to Android and iOS users.

Results for the Maharashtra Assembly elections will be released by the Election Commission of India today. Counting of votes will begin from 8 AM onwards. Follow financialexpress.com for live updates on Maharashtra Results 2024.

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