- By Mayukh Debnath
- Sat, 23 Nov 2024 08:37 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Maharashtra Election Result 2024: The Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar's NCP, paced towards a landslide victory in Maharashtra as the counting of votes for the Assembly election in the state entered the final hours. As of 07:45 PM, the coalition, which is set to retain power, won 195 seats and was leading on 39 others in the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
On the other hand, the opposition MVA bloc, mainly made up of the Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP-SP, emerged victorious on at least 42 seats and was leading on at least three others. The Maharashtra Assembly election, along with polls in Jharkhand, are the last major political showdown of this year. The Mahayuti's performance comes as a majestic boost for the BJP-led NDA as the coalition had a lacklustre performance in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year.
Maharashtra Assembly Election 2024: Some Key Losses
The assembly polls witnessed a number of high-profile frays. Several bigwigs and prominent debutants from both sides lost in their respective constituencies. While NCP (Ajit Pawar) leader Nawab Malik faced an embarassing defeat in Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, having come in fourth, Shiv Sena candidate Shaina NC, who quit the BJP to contest the election, failed to make her electoral debut a successful one in Mumbadevi.
In the Aurangabad East constituency, BJP candidate Atul Save defeated firebrand AIMIM leader Imtiaz Jaleel by a difference of 2,161 votes. Sanjay Nirupam, a former senior Maharashtra Congress leader who joined the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena after being expelled by the grand old party earlier this year, lost the Dindoshi seat to Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Sunil Prabhu.
A similar fate befell on serving Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora, who joined the Shiv Sena after severing his long association with the Congress party. He lost to Shiv Sena (UBT) scion and former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray in Worli. Meanwhile, Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi (BVA) leader Kshitij Hitendra Thakur lost from Nalasopara, a seat that had been electing him as MLA since 2009, the very year of its inception.
However, one of the biggest setbacks faced by an opposition candidate came in Sangamner, where Congress stalwart Balasaheb Thorat, having eight consecutive MLA terms under his belt, lost to Shiv Sena's Amol Khatal by a margin of 10,560 votes.