Tuesday, 24 December 2024
Tuesday, 24 December 2024
The ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was set to retain power in Maharashtra as it crossed the halfway mark of 144 seats in the 288-member Assembly. The Mahayuti won 174 seats and was leading in 57 seats, per the latest figures by the Election Commission (EC). Of these 174 seats, the BJP already won 95 seats, followed by Shiv Sena’s 44 and NCP’s 35 seats.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) has won 35 seats till now and is leading in 10 seats.
In the ruling Mahayuti alliance, the BJP contested 149 assembly seats, and Shiv Sena 81 seats, while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP fielded candidates in 59 constituencies. In the MVA combine, the Congress fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and NCP (SP) put up 86 candidates.
The BJP has increased its vote share to 26.7 per cent as against its vote share of 26 per cent in the 2019 Assembly polls. The vote share of the Congress reduced to 12.2 per cent from 16 per cent in 2019. The Shiv Sena and the NCP split into two factions after 2019.
Here’s what the political leaders across the spectrum said about the Maharashtra results.
Eknath Shinde and Narendra Modi: United we soar even higher
Reacting to his coalition and party’s success, Eknath Shinde, the chief minister of Maharashtra said: “I thank everybody for this victory. We have such a big victory because of the work Mahayuti did. Very grateful.”
Shinde credited the Ladki Bahin scheme with Mahayuti’s success in Maharashtra. Thanking “all my ladki bahins,” Shinde added, “Every section of society voted for us because of our development efforts. The public has noticed our work and responded through their ballots.”
Eknath Shinde won the Kopdi-Pachpakhadi with a huge margin of 120, 717 votes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was synonymous with Shinde on X. “Heartfelt gratitude to my sisters and brothers of Maharashtra, especially the youth and women of the state, for a historic mandate to the NDA. This affection and warmth is unparalleled,” he wrote.
Echoing the BJP-led Mahayuti’s debated slogan "Ek hain toh safe hain,” Modi added, “United we will soar even higher.”
Ajit Pawar and Sanjay Raut: Pink rule and big conspiracy
NCP’s Ajit Pawar referred to the success of Mahayuti’s Ladki Bahin Scheme, and wrote on X, “Maharashtra Chooses Pink.”
Ajit Pawar won from the traditional Pawar family fiefdom of Baramati with a margin of 100, 899 votes. His opponent was his nephew NCP (SP)’s Yugendra Pawar,
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut was in disbelief: “I see a big conspiracy in this. This is not a mandate of Marathi 'manoos' and farmers. We do not accept this as people's mandate. We don't accept this as people's mandate; something is fishy in election results. Even people must be wondering how to accept this mandate.”
"How can all MLAs of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde win? How can Ajit Pawar, whose betrayal angered Maharashtra, win?" he asked.
Nana Patole, the President of Maharashtra Congress, lost the Sakoli constituency to BJP’s Avinash Brahmankar by 658 votes. On November 21, he had told PTI: “A Maha Vikas Aghadi government will be formed in Maharashtra under the leadership of the Congress.” Patole remained quite like most of the Congress leaders as the results were out.
Devendra Fadnavis: Ek hai toh safe hai
Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, won against Congress’s Prafulla Gudadhe in the Nagpur Southwest constituency by 39,710 votes.
“The opposition’s efforts to propagate a fake narrative, and polarise voters based on religion was foiled by masses,” said Fadnavis. “Today's verdict shows that the entire community stands united behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The 'ek hain toh safe hai' slogan has been a success, particularly for ladki bahins (dear sisters) who benefit from this scheme, receiving Rs 1,500 per month.”
Amit Shah: Shops of fake well-wishers of Constitution closed
In a post in Marathi, Union home minister Amit Shah offered “millions of salutations” to the people of Maharashtra for the “historic mandate”.
“Maharashtra, the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar ji, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule ji and Swatantraveer Savarkar ji, has done the work of closing the shops of those who have become fake well-wishers of the Constitution on the basis of confusion and falsehood. Yes, victory is the victory of every Maharashtrian,” Shah wrote.
Milind Deora: Hope triumphs over fear
Congress-turned-Sena leader Milind Deora lost the Worli seat against Aditya Thackeray from Shiv Sena (UBT) with a margin of 8801 votes.
Despite the loss, Deora celebrated the Mahayuti win and said voters chose “progress without speed limits over speed breaker politics”. “Hope always triumphs over fear,” he added on X.
Shrikanth Shinde: Shiv Sena is not a private limited company
Eknath Shinde’s son Shrikanth Shinde said, “Shiv Sena is not a private limited company...people have shown who is taking Balasaheb's ideals forward.”
Zeeshan Siddique: Humbly accept people’s mandate
Late Baba Siddique’s son Zeeshan Siddique contested the Vandre East Assembly constituency. Representing Ajit Pawar’s NCP, he squared off against Varun Sardesai from Shiv Sena (UBT). Zeeshan lost by 11,365 votes and “humbly” accepted the people's mandate. Zeeshan was the sitting MLA from Vandre East.
“I wish Varun all the best. I promise to continue working hard towards the development and betterment of Vandre east, Mumbai and Maharashtra. I thank each one of you who trusted me and voted for me and stood by me during these tough times!” he wrote on X.
