Maharashtra result: With no clear majority, BJP will have to rely on Sena

Mumbai: Maharashtra appeared headed for an alliance government, with trends available in all 288 constituencies indicating that no party will be in a position to form the government on its own, although BJP, riding on the Modi wave, emerged the leader of the pack. As per trends available after two hours of counting, BJP was leading in 120 constituencies, with former – and according to some, would-be – ally Shiv Sena a distant second in 59 seats, Congress in 44 and NCP in 45. The Raj Thackeray-led MNS had a dismal outing, leading in just two seats, a far cry from the 13 seats it won in the 2009 polls. With no party appearing to be in a position to reach the magic figure of 145 seats needed to form government, the state looks set to witness a plethora of permutations and combinations in the next few days. [caption id=“attachment_1762379” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Uddhav Thackeray and Narendra Modi in happier times. AFP[/caption] While there is already speculation of former allies BJP and Sena coming together and forming the next government, there are also those who feel that the Sena’s and Congress and NCP’s need to remain in power, may throw up combinations which may not seem plausible now. The first result declared so far has gone in favour of Madhuri Misal of BJP, who retained her Assembly seat in Pune. Former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is leading in Baramati in western Maharashtra. According to initial trends, several Congress ministers are trailing. Congress minister Rajendra Darda was trailing by around 30,000 votes from Aurangabad East Assembly constituency while Narayan Rane was trailing by 3000 votes from Kudal. Congress Ministers Satej Patil was also trailing by 3000 votes from Kolhapur South while Harshvardhan Patil was behind 4000 votes in Indapur. Prithviraj Chavan, who was trailing initially, has taken a lead of 4000 votes from Karad South. NCP Ministers including former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was leading by over 18,000 votes from Baramati, Chhagan Bhujbal by 20,000 votes from Yevla in Nashik and Bhaskar Jadhav by 20,000 votes in Guhagar. In Mumbai, Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Vinod Tawde, who is making his electoral debut, established a comfortable lead over Shiv Sena in Borivali Assembly constituency. BJP and Shiv Sena were leading in most of the constituencies while Congress candidates were trailing in seats held by them in 2009. At the end of second round, Tawde polled 10,271 votes, Sena’s Uttam Agarwal 2,445 and Nayan Kadam of MNS 1,173. In Mulund, BJP’s Sardar Tara Singh was leading by around 13,000 votes. Prakash Surve (Shiv Sena) was leading by around 6,000 votes in Magathane. In Vikroli, Shiv Sena’s Sunil Raut polled 10,736 votes as against sitting MLA Mangesh Sangale of MNS who bagged 5,584 votes. In Vile Parle, BJP’s Parag Alavani polled 12,983 votes while Shiv Sena’s Shashikant Patkar got 9,002 votes, while sitting MLA Krishna Hegde (Congress) was in third position. In Malad-west, Congress’ Aslam Sheikh was trailing over his BJP rival Ram Barot. BJP’s Atul Bhatkalkar was leading over his Congress rival and sitting MLA Ramesh Thakur from Kandivali east. In Chembur Congress’ Chandrakant Handore was trailing at third position. Shiv Sena had established a lead in Kalina from where former Mumbai Congress president Kripashankar Singh is the candidate. Former Women and Child Welfare Minister Varsha Gaikwad was holding fort for the Congress in Dharavi, where at the end of 7th round, she had polled 15,926 votes over her Sena rival Baburao Mane who polled 8,940 votes, and BJP’s Divya Dhole who polled 6,397 votes. NCP spokesman Nawab Malik was trailing in Anushaktinagar over his Sena rival. Congress’ Rajhans Singh had established a slender lead over his Sena rival Sunil Prabhu, former Mumbai Mayor, in Dindoshi. In Bandra West, Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar was leading over Congress’ Baba Siddique with a small margin at the end of first round. PTI