Silence descends on MVA camp as Mahayuti heads for ‘Maha’ win
According to trends on the Election Commission website, opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc was poised to bag Jharkhand
Mumbai: As the ruling BJP-lead Mahayuti alliance was all set for a landslide victory in the high-stakes Maharashtra Assembly 2024 elections, a shell-shocked silence fell over the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) camp.
Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc was poised to bag majority, according to trends on the Election Commission website. As votes were counted for the Assembly polls held earlier this month, India’s ruling and opposition alliances could bag one State each in the crucial electoral battle with voters in both going for continuity rather than change.
While the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP partnership banded under Mahayuti was leading in over 200 of the 288 seats in the powerhouse State of Maharashtra indicating a huge wave in favour of the ruling alliance, the Maha Vikhas Aghadi (MVA) partnership of the Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) was ahead in just 50.
In the 81-seat Jharkhand Assembly, the BJP was ahead in 26 seats, way behind the opposition alliance with JMM leading in 30 seats, the Congress in 13, the RJD in five and the CPI-ML in one. “We will form government with a two-third majority in Jharkhand,” Congress leader Rajesh Thakur told PTI Videos as Hemant Soren looked set to return as Chief Minister.
“NDA will win Maharashtra and Jharkhand and Bihar bypolls. We will win because I.N.D.I.A bloc wants to spread communalism in the country,” Union Minister Giriraj Singh said as the BJP walked towards a triumphant comeback in Maharashtra.
The results come as a fillip for the BJP, which won an unprecedented hat-trick in Haryana last month, and help the party overcome some of its reverses in the general elections where it bagged just 240 seats. Voters in the politically significant western state of Maharashtra, which sends 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha and gave the MVA a decisive 30 seats, clearly decided to go against the trend of that parliamentary victory just five months ago.