The counting of votes will be held on Tuesday in 48 Lok Sabha seats of Maharashtra where the rival Shiv Sena and NCP factions, as well as the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress are jockeying for political supremacy.

Counting will begin at 8 am across the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The exercise would be held at 289 counting halls and 4,309 counting tables by 14,507 personnel. Adequate police security was in place at all the counting centres, as per a statement from the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

The performance in Maharashtra is crucial for both the ruling Mahayuti and Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) as the western state sends 48 members to the Lok Sabha, the second highest after Uttar Pradesh, which elects 80 MPs.

The Mahayuti comprises the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, BJP and the NCP headed by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

The MVA constituents include the Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).

Elections were held in Maharashtra in five phases from April 19 to May 20 at 98,140 polling stations.

The state logged a voter turnout of 61.33 per cent in the five phases.

Among the 1,121 candidates in the fray include prominent figures such as Union ministers Nitin Gadkari (from Nagpur seat), Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North), Narayan Rane (Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg), Raosaheb Danve (Jalna), Bharti Pawar (Dindori) and Kapil Patil (Bhiwandi).

They were pitted against rivals from the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT).

The most riveting contest was in Baramati constituency where Sharad Pawar's daughter and sitting NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule was pitted against her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar, who last year engineered a split in the Nationalist Congress Party founded by his uncle.

State ministers Sudhir Mungantiwar and Sandipan Bhumre contested against their rivals from the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) in Chandrapur and Aurangabad seats, respectively.

The BJP-led NDA has set the bar high this time with a target to win 45 plus constituencies in the state.

In 2019, the BJP won 23 seats while its then ally Shiv Sena (undivided) bagged 18. The then undivided NCP bagged four constituencies, whereas the Congress could win just one seat.

The elections in 2024 were fought in a changed political landscape after splits in the Shiv Sena and NCP following rebellion by Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, respectively.

The other key battles were between BJP leader Pankaja Munde and Bajrang Sonawane of the NCP (SP) in Beed and between Congress MLA Praniti Shinde, daughter of ex-Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, and Ram Satpute of the BJP in Solapur.

Shahu Chhatrapati, a royal from Kolhapur, and Udayanraje Bhosale, a direct descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, contested from Kolhapur and Satara seats on Congress and BJP tickets, respectively.

In Mumbai, the Shiv Sena led by CM Shinde and the Uddhav Thackeray faction are locked in a straight fight in three of six seats- Mumbai South, Mumbai North West, and Mumbai South Central, while in the three other seats, the BJP is squaring off against Congress.

Prominent lawyer and debutant politician Ujjwal Nikam of the BJP contested against Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad from Mumbai North Central seat.

In the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Eknath Shinde's son and sitting MP Shrikant Shinde is seeking a third term from Kalyan.

In CM Shinde's stronghold Thane, the Sena led by him and the Shiv Sena (UBT) are locked in a fight.

Among the opposition MVA allies, the Shiv Sena (UBT) contested the maximum 21 seats, followed by Congress 17 and NCP (SP) 10.

In the ruling Mahayuti, the BJP fielded 28 candidates, followed by Shinde-led Sena which contested 15 seats, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP 4 and ally RSP 1.

Out of the 15 seats, the Shinde Sena is locked in a straight fight against the Uddhav faction in 13. The rival NCP camps are facing off each other in Baramati and Shirur constituencies.

As many 5,70,06,778 persons out of 9,29,43,890 electors had exercised their franchise.

At 71.88 per cent, polling in the Gadchiroli-Chimur constituency was the highest, while Mumbai South registered the lowest turnout at 50.06 per cent.

The BJP's campaign was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who doubled down on the development plank and mainly targeted Sharad Pawar in his rallies. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior BJP leaders also hit the hustings.

The MVA's campaign was based on the "threat to the Constitution" narrative which was led by Sharad Pawar who addressed a string of rallies.

Uddhav Thackeray played the sympathy tune citing "gaddari" (treachery) by MLAs from the Shinde camp.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also addressed rallies with the theme of social justice and assurance to conduct a caste census if voted to power.

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