The counting of votes in Maharashtra began at 8 AM with postal ballots, and where the competition between the BJP-Led Mahayuti Alliance and the Congress-led Maha Vikas Agadhi Alliance has everyone hooked onto discussions related to the election results, the early trends on the big day showcase how the Mahayuti is leading in the state, being ahead on 213 seats. In the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, the majority mark is 145.
While the stakes are certainly high for both the opposing camps. But as of now, the Mahayuti Alliance is eyeing another term in power, leading on seats comfortably much higher than the required majority mark. The MVA too, despite trailing in early trends, hopes for a comeback.
The Maharashtra Assembly elections have become even more important this time, as these are the first state polls after the Shiv Sena and NCP split internally.
While the Mahayuti Alliance comprises the BJP, the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, and the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena; the Maha Vikas Agadhi is a coalition between Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena camp, the Congress, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP faction.
This time, the key focus of the Maharashtra polls has been the freebie politics, the Dharavi slum redevelopment project backed by the Mahayuti, and caste and religious polarization of votes.
While early trends at the start of the day are a good sign for the Mahayuti to giddy up for power, there is a lot to see in order to know whether the MVA could witness a change in the counting trends and emerge victorious.
