The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), in the Maharashtra elections, faced a significant setback in the reserved seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, areas where it had performed better in both the 2019 Assembly elections and the recent Lok Sabha polls.
Of the total 288 Assembly seats, 54 are reserved for SCs and STs. According to the results, the BJP strengthened its position by increasing its tally from 17 to 20 in the reserved seats.
BJP's alliance partner, the NCP led by Ajit Pawar, won 11 of these seats, while Shiv Sena (Shinde) secured nine. In 2019, BJP’s alliance partner Shiv Sena had won eight seats. The ruling Mahayuti coalition improved its performance in these constituencies this time around.
The Congress, which had secured 11 seats in 2019, saw its performance decline, winning only six seats this time. Shiv Sena UBT managed to win three seats, while the NCP (Sharad Pawar) secured two.
In the recent Lok Sabha elections, the MVA had performed strongly, securing 30 out of the 48 seats in Maharashtra, largely because of support from socially disadvantaged communities. The BJP had won only nine seats, with Shiv Sena (Shinde) bagging seven and NCP-Ajit winning one.