Maharashtra Election Results 2024: E Shinde, Ajit Pawar In Focus As Breakaway Leaders Upstage Mentors In Maharashtra

Sat Nov 23 07:32:44 UTC 2024: ## BJP Set for Landslide Victory in Maharashtra Assembly Elections

**Mumbai, [Date]** – The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is poised for a resounding victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, securing its best-ever performance in the state. Preliminary results indicate a significant lead for the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, fueled by defections from the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

The MVA, which won 30 of Maharashtra’s 48 Lok Sabha seats in the April-June elections, has been significantly weakened by the defections of over 70 MLAs to the ruling alliance. These defections stem from the splits within the Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Ajit Pawar, both of whom joined the Mahayuti.

As of 12:30 pm, the BJP was leading in 124 of the 288 seats. The MVA is trailing significantly, with only 53 seats. Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Pawar’s faction of the NCP are projected to win a combined 93 seats, further bolstering the Mahayuti’s lead. While the BJP’s strong showing is remarkable, it is likely to still rely on these defected factions to secure a majority.

The shift in seats highlights the devastating impact of the Sena and NCP splits on the MVA. A large number of seats previously held by the undivided Sena and NCP are now in the hands of their breakaway factions. For example, Shinde’s faction is projected to win at least 40 seats previously held by the undivided Shiv Sena in 2019, with a similar trend observed for Ajit Pawar’s NCP.

While exit polls predicted a significant Mahayuti win, the scale of the BJP’s victory appears to have exceeded even those projections. Most polls predicted the Mahayuti would win around 155 seats, while the MVA would secure roughly 120.

The 2019 elections saw a victory for the BJP and the then-undivided Shiv Sena. However, subsequent disagreements led to the dramatic collapse of the alliance and the formation of the MVA government, only to be unseated by internal rebellions within both the Sena and NCP, leading to the current political landscape. The Supreme Court even intervened in various legal disputes arising from these internal conflicts. The current election results demonstrate the significant consequences of these political realignments.