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Maharashtra Exit Poll Results 2024: The Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Shinde Sena, NCP (Ajit Pawar), or the Maha Vikas Aghadi of Sena UBT, Congress and NCP (Sharad Pawar) – who has Maharashtra picked?
The Mahayuti and MVA fought the Maharashtra assembly poll battle intensely. (File)
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti may have the edge over the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the Maharashtra assembly elections, according to the exit poll predictions on Wednesday. The alliances need to cross the 145-mark to form the government. The results for the 288 seats will be announced on November 23.
ABP-Matrize has predicted 150-170 seats for Mahayuti and 110-130 for MVA. P-MarQ has predicted 137-157 seats for the Mahayuti and 126-146 for the MVA. Chanakya has predicted 152-160 seats for Mahayuti and 130-138 for the MVA. While Poll Diary has predicted 137-157 seats for Mahayuti, the projection for MVA is 126-146. Peoples Pulse has predicted 182 seats for the Mahayuti and 97 for the MVA. Bhaskar Reporters’ Poll is the only one to predict 135-150 seats for the MVA and 125-140 seats for the Mahayuti.
Maharashtra’s intense assembly election battle, which came on the back of multiple governments, split in parties and a lot of political drama, ended with voting on November 20.
The Mahayuti, comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shinde Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar), fought against the Maha Vikas Aghadi of Sena UBT, Congress and NCP (Sharad Pawar).
The BJP contested 149 seats, Shinde Sena 81, and NCP (Ajit Pawar) 59. The Congress has fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and NCP (SP) 86. Smaller parties, including the Bahujan Samaj Party and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), are also contesting, with BSP fielding 237 candidates and AIMIM 17 in the 288-member lower house.
SCHEMES, SLOGANS & MORE
The election campaign saw prominent leaders like Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and many union ministers crisscrossing the state to garner votes for their candidates.
The Mahayuti is banking on its popular schemes like Majhi Ladki Bahin for women helping it retain power. The BJP’s use of slogans like ‘Batenge toh katenge’ and ‘Ek hai toh safe hai’ prompted the opposition parties to accuse the Mahayuti of polarising voters along religious lines. Not all BJP allies supported these slogans. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who is part of Mahayuti, distanced himself from them. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis attempted to clarify the meaning of the slogans, leading to confusion within the ruling alliance.
The MVA alliance countered the ruling combine’s rhetoric by focusing on issues like caste-based census, social justice, and protecting the Constitution. The opposition aimed to appeal to voters who felt neglected by the government.
CANDIDATES, VOTERS, BOOTHS
The number of candidates has increased by 28 per cent this time compared to the 2019 state assembly elections. This year, 4,136 candidates are contesting, up from 3,239 in 2019.
Among these candidates, 2,086 are independents. Rebels are in the fray in over 150 constituencies, with candidates from the Mahayuti and MVA contesting against their party’s official nominees.
As on October 30, the updated number of registered voters stands at 9,70,25,119, officials said.
Among these, there are 5,00,22,739 male voters, 4,69,96,279 female voters, and 6,101 transgender voters. Additionally, the total number of PwD (Persons with Disabilities) voters is 6,41,425, while the number of service voters from the armed forces is 1,16,170.
There will be 1,00,186 polling booths in Maharashtra this time, compared to 96,654 booths in the 2019 assembly elections. This increase is due to the rise in the number of voters.
Around six lakh state government employees will be involved in election duties.
Since the code of conduct came into force on October 15, cash and items worth Rs 252.42 crore were seized in enforcement actions conducted under various schemes of the central and state governments. The seized items included Rs 63.47 crore cash, along with 34,89,088 litres of liquor valued at Rs 33.73 crore. Additionally, Rs 32.67 crore drugs were confiscated, along with precious metals valued at Rs 83.12 crore. Officials also seized 34,634 pieces of jewellery worth Rs 2.79 crore and 8,79,913 miscellaneous items valued at Rs 36.62 crore.
During the same period, 2,469 complaints related to violations of the Model Code of Conduct were received across the state via the C-Vigil app. Of these, 2,452 complaints, amounting to 99.31 per cent, were promptly resolved.
With PTI Inputs
