The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is projected to secure a significant victory in Maharashtra’s 48 Lok Sabha seats, according to exit polls released on Saturday evening. The BJP and its coalition, including breakaway factions of Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar’s NCP, are expected to win between 22 seats (ABP News-C Voter) and up to 41 seats (Jan Ki Baat).
The opposition INDIA bloc, led by the Congress and incorporating the original Sena and NCP groups under former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar, is projected to secure between 13 seats (India News-D Dynamics) and 23-25 seats (ABP News-C Voter).
In the 2019 election, the BJP and the (then undivided) Shiv Sena dominated, winning 23 and 18 seats respectively, including a clean sweep of Mumbai’s six constituencies and other significant wins in areas like Sangli, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Beed, Latur, Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, and Nagpur.
In the 2019 elections, the Congress secured just one seat, with Suresh Dhanorkar winning from Chandrapur. The NCP, led by Sharad Pawar, won four seats, including the family stronghold of Baramati, where his daughter Supriya Sule triumphed. Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM claimed four seats and independent candidate Navneet Kaur Rana won Amravati. Rana has since joined the BJP.
The battle for Maharashtra, which sends the most MPs to the Lok Sabha after Uttar Pradesh (80), will be closely watched when votes are counted on Tuesday.
Overall, the BJP is expected to register a significant win and secure a third consecutive term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, the party may fall short of its ambitious targets—370+ seats on its own and over 400 seats with allies, as suggested by the slogan ‘abki baar, 400 paar.’
