Maharashtra election results: BJP-Shiv Sena clinch victory but fall short of predicted figure of 200 seats; NCP wins LS bypoll in Satara

Aurangabad: The verdict of the Maharashtra Assembly polls 2019 shows a clear cut victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena alliance over the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party front. Till 7 pm, the saffron alliance had crossed the magic figure of 145 and had already won/was leading in 163 seats, while the Congress-NCP alliance was at 103 seats.

Though the saffron alliance is all set to form the next government, it fell short of its own predictions of 200 seats. In fact, most exit polls had also predicted that the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance will cross 200 seats. As per the figures at the time of the publishing this article, the BJP was ahead in 105 seats and the Shiv Sena in 56 seats.

In the UPA alliance, the NCP won/was leading in 54 seats and the Congress in 44 seats.

As the general trend of the election results became clear, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray addressed a press conference. Fadnavis pointed out that although the BJP has secured fewer seats than in 2014, in the previous election, the BJP and Shiv Sena had contested independently. He said that the BJP contested 260 seats and won 122 in 2014, with a strike rate of 47 percent. This time, the BJP contested 150 seats and won around 105, and the strike rate was 70 percent, Fadnavis said. The chief minister also said that around 15 rebels are in touch with him.

Fadnavis pointed out that the vote share increased when compared to previous elections. However, he said that the defeat of state ministers was a serious matter and discussions would be held to find out what went wrong.

Eight existing ministers faced defeat in this election. These were Ram Shinde from Karjat, Pankaja Munde from Parli, Bala Bhegde from Maval, Parinay Phuke from Sakoli, Anil Bonde from Morshi, Vijay Shivtare from Purandar, Arjun Khotkar from Jalna and Jaydutta Kshirsagar from Beed.

Rise of young leaders

Aaditya Thackeray, grandson of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray, recorded a thumping victory from Mumbai’s Worli. He secured 8248 votes, way ahead of his nearest rival Suresh Mane of the NCP, who got 21,821 votes.

BJP leader and state minister Pankaja Munde, daughter of the late party stalwart Gopinath Munde, lost the Parli Assembly seat of Beed district to her cousin and NCP candidate Dhananjay Munde. Dhananjay is the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council.

MNS’ engine stopped at Kalyan station

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) secured victory in only one seat — Kalyan Rural, where party leader Raju Patil defeated the Shiv Sena’s Ramesh Mhatre. The Congress and NCP had supported the MNS in this seat.

BJP loses Satara bypoll

The Lok Sabha bypoll for Satara, which was held along with the Assembly elections, was a matter of prestige for both the BJP and NCP. Former NCP MP Udayanraje Bhonsale, who resigned a few weeks before the Assembly polls and joined the BJP, was representing the saffron party. The NCP had fielded Shriniwas Patil, a long-time friend of party patriarch Sharad Pawar and a popular orator in the region, from this seat. In what had earlier seemed a promising fight, Patil defeated Bhonsale by over 95,000 votes. A tight contest was expected here between the NCP and BJP, as Satara constituency is a bastion of the NCP.

During campaigning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chided NCP chief Sharad Pawar for not having the courage to fight the parliamentary bypoll from Satara. However, as it turned out, the NCP won the seat.

Patil is a former governor of Sikkim and is also called ‘dadasaheb’ by his followers.

Elections were held for all 288 seats of the Maharashtra Assembly on 21 October. Among these, the BJP and Shiv Sena contested 150 and 124 seats. The remaining 14 seats were given for other members of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The Congress contested 144 seats, the NCP on 122 and 20 seats were fought by smaller parties of United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

(The authors are freelance writers and members of 101Reporters.com )