3 min readMumbaiJun 2, 2024 07:43 AM IST
First published on: Jun 2, 2024 at 12:09 AM IST
Most exit poll surveys on the Lok Sabha elections released on Saturday have predicted a significant decline in seats for the BJP-led ruling NDA alliance in Maharashtra with most pollsters giving the BJP-led ruling alliance between 22 and 33 seats.
Even as most exit poll surveys have predicted a lead for the Mahayuti, the ruling alliance comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and NCP (Ajit Pawar) in Maharashtra, the surveys have hinted that the ruling alliance is not likely to achieve its thumping victory during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when the BJP, in an alliance with the undivided Shiv Sena, had won 41 out of the 48 seats in the state.
Almost all the exit polls show that neither the ruling nor the opposition alliance will cross the 33-seat mark and that neither side is poised for a clean sweep.
The predictions of the surveys are being seen as a setback for the BJP-led alliance in the state, which has set a target of winning more than 45 seats in the state.
The ABP-CVoter survey has predicted that the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (Congress, Shiv Sena-UBT and NCP Sharad Pawar) will get 22 to 26 seats in the state, Whereas the Mahayuti, (BJP, Shinde Sena and NCP-Ajit Pawar) is also expected to get 22 to 33 seats.
According to the ABP-CVoter survey, the BJP is expected to get 17 seats, while Shinde-led Sena will get six seats and Ajit Pawar’s NCP one seat.
The Congress is expected to get eight seats, Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena nine seats and NCP-Sharad Pawar faction six seats.
Axis My India has predicted 28-32 seats for NDA in the state while it has projected India alliance to win 16-20 seats.
Responding to the surveys, Sena spokesperson and state minister Uday Samant exuded confidence that the Shiv Sena will get a respectable number on counting day. “Exit polls may project anything but we are confident that we will get respectable numbers. Even as the exit polls are showing that we are losing seats like Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, we are going to win these seats, I have personally toured in Konkan’s Raigad and Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seats and we are surely going to win there, even as the exit polls are showing otherwise,” Samant said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Sachin Ahir, however, said that the exit poll results will change on June 4 and that the MVA will fare better in the actual results. “On June 4, there will be better results for the MVA than the exit polls. The ruling alliance was claiming that they will get 40+ seats but that is not happening. The Sena (UBT) will be the biggest party in the MVA and all of us will know which is the real Shiv Sena and the real NCP on June 4. The MVA will get seats between 24-30 and the NDA will go way below 40. This is the ground reality. Lok Sabha is a trailer, the state Assembly will be the real picture,” Ahir said.
Responding to the surveys, Sena spokesperson and state minister Uday Samant exuded confidence that the Shiv Sena will get a respectable number on counting day. (File Photo) 
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