The results of Maharashtra assembly election is set to leave the state assembly without a Leader of the Opposition. There is no party outside the ruling Mahayuti alliance that has secured the mandatory minimum of 29 seats. The landslide victory of the ruling alliance has further diminished the opposition’s presence in the state legislature.
According to the official data shown till 7 PM, 220 of the 288 seats had been declared. The BJP led the pack with 95 seats won and 38 more seats in contention. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s faction of Shiv Sena emerged with 44 seats and was leading in 13 others. The third partner in the Mahayuti, Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), secured 35 seats with a lead in six.
In contrast, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, which includes the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), struggled to make a significant impact. The Shiv Sena (UBT) won 17 seats, with three more in the lead. The Congress managed just 10 seats, with five leads, while Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) won eight and was leading in two.
Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister, won the Nagpur South West seat in the assembly elections. He defeated Congress’s Prafulla Gudhade Patil by 39,710 votes. Fadnavis secured 129,401 votes, marking his fourth consecutive win. However, his victory margin dropped by 9,643 votes compared to the 2019 elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressed his gratitude to the voters –especially the youth and women of the state– for a “historic mandate to the NDA”.
(With PTI Inputs)