Maharashtra Election Results 2024 Highlights: BJP’s Pankaja Munde loses family bastion Beed; MVA bags 30 of 48 seats in state

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Rohit Pawar claimed that several MLA's from Ajit-Pawar's NCP were in touch with Sharad Pawar, news agency PTI reported. Rohit said that around 18 to 19 MLAs from Ajit Pawar's NCP were in touch with NCP (SP) while around 12 MLAs were also in contact with the BJP.

As the Maha Vikas Aghadi continues its lead in 23 seats, with BJP-led NDA ahead in just ten, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis blamed the Opposition for the NDA's performance in the state. Fadnavis said that the "unfortunate outcome" was due to the Opposition's "propaganda" claiming that the BJP would change the Constitution. "But in elections, the people's mandate has to be accepted as it is. We will do deep introspection and will recover our loss in the next assembly election," Fadnavis posted on X.

As the INDIA bloc substantially increases its vote share in Mumbai, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray said that the INDIA bloc would meet on Wednesday to decide the prime ministerial face for the alliance. Uddhav, who said that the common man had shown his power in the mandate, also said that the opposition needed to stake claim to form government at the Centre, adding that at present, the BJP-led NDA was trying to portray that they had the numbers to form the next government in the country.

After the recounting of votes for the Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat, Shiv Sena candidate Ravindra Waikar is believed to have won the constituency after defeating Sena (UBT) candidate Amol Kirtikar. The BJP had requested for recounting of the votes in the seat.

The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena won the Buldhana and the Maval seats, with the latter being retained by Shrirang Barne who defeated Sena UBT candidate Sanjog Waghere Patil. Jadhav Prataprao Ganpatrao won the Buldhana seat, defeating Sena UBT candidate Narendra Dagdu Khedekar. 

The BJP has won three seats - Palghar, Satara and Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, as per Election Commission figures. Union Minister Narayan Rane, in his debut Lok Sabha polls, won the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency. 

Here are the number of seats that the parties are leading on at present.

? BJP - 7

? Shiv Sena (UBT) - 7

? Shiv Sena (SHS) - 5

? INC - 12

? NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) - 6

? Independent - 1

Here's a roundup of thenumber of seats the NDA and INDIA have officially won in Maharashtra.

? BJP - 3

? Shiv Sena (UBT)  - 2

? Shiv Sena (SHS) - 2

? INC - 1

? NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) - 1

?NCP - 1

As NCP (SP) candidate Supriya Sule secured a huge majority of over 66,000 votes from the Baramati Lok Sabha seat, the party’s national chief and her father Sharad Pawar said that he was confident that Baramatikars would remain loyal like they have done for last 60 years. 

“I know the mindset of Baramatikars for 60 years. They have remained loyal to us. Therefore I was confident that they would remain loyal this time too and show the right path to those who have choosen the wrong path,” Pawar told reporters in Mumbai.

Read Manoj More's report here

Shiv Sena's Shrirang Barne retained the Maval seat, defeating Sena (UBT) candidate Sanjog Waghere Patil by over 96,000 votes. A two-time MP from the seat, Barne had shifted loyalties to Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde when he left the undivided Shiv Sena.

BJP leader and Union Minister Narayan Rane has won the  Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat by a margin of more than 47,000 votes, defeating  Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Vinayak Raut.

Mumbai North Central: Congress's Varsha Gaikwad defetaed BJP's debutant candidate Ujwal Nikam
North: BJP's Piyush Goyal defeated Congress' Bhushan Patil
North East: Sena UBT's Sanjay Patil won
North West: Sena UBT's Amol Kirtikar won
South: Sena UBT's Arvind Sawant won
South Central: Sena UBT's Anil Desai won

The BJP sought recounting in North West.

NCP's Sunil Tatkare defeated Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Anant Geete in the Raigad consitutency by a margin of over 82,000 votes.

This opened the account for the Ajit Pawar-led party, which had been leading in just one seat since counting of votes began at 8 am.

Bajrang Manohar Sonawane from Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) was leading in Maharashtra’s Beed constituency in the contest against senior BJP leader Pankaja Munde.

The contest in Beed, which saw several instances of violence during the Maratha quota agitations, is being seen as a contest between Sonawane, a Maratha leader and Munde, who is one of the top leaders from the Vanjari community (OBC).

In 2014, Gopinath Munde, a veteran leader from BJP won the elections but soon passed away in a road accident after which his younger daughter Pritam Munde took over. She then went on to stay in power in Beed after defeating Sonawane as undivided NCP’s candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. 

This time, the older daughter, Pankaja who is also the national secretary of the BJP was fielded as the candidate. She was part of Maharashtra’s cabinet as Minister of Rural and Women, Child Development from 2014 to 2019.

However, as of 6.30 pm, Munde was back in the leading position.

After trailing behind NCP (SP) candidate Shashikant Shinde for 13 rounds, BJP’s Udayanraje Bhosale took the lead in the 14th round. In the next round, he expanded the lead to 9736 votes.

As supporters celebrated his lead at Jalmandir Palace in Satara, Bhosale became emotional and was seen being supported by his wife Damyanti.

As of 6.30 pm, he is leading by a margin of over 32,000 votes.

As the Shiv Sena continued to lead in six seats, with a margin of over 1 lakh in three of them, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde thanked party workers.

"The people have voted for development. I want to thank everyone and PM Modi as well. PM Modi will become the Prime Minister for the third time. Some people were fighting with the agenda of just PM Modi, but PM Modi talked about development. Some of our people have lost with very few votes. We accept the people's decisions. Those who have done vote bank politics their real face will be revealed.The people have supported PM Modi," Shinde said.

Left with a handful of leaders and legislators, his nephew usurping his party name and symbol, veteran politician Sharad Pawar was down last year.

Eleven months later, the 83-year-old has bounced back. With his party, NCP (SP) — Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) — leading in eight of the 10 Lok Sabha seats it contested in Maharashtra, Pawar has displayed his resolve to take up challenges and seems to have given a new lease of life to his party by hitting the highest strike rate as per the initial counting trends.

Unfazed by the split that was engineered by his own nephew with the BJP’s backing, Pawar pledged to rebuild the organisation from scratch. He took to aggressive field work, hopping from one constituency to another to retain his support base.

Pawar also played the role of the key strategist in keeping the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — the alliance of Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction and NCP (SP) — intact.

Read the full story here

Congress candidate Gowaal Padavi clinched the Nandurbar seat, leaving behind his closest rival BJP's Heena Gavit by a whopping margin of over 1.5 lakh votes.

Union minister and BJP candidate Narayan Rane said "lotus has finally bloomed in Konkan" as he looked set to win from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra. Rane was in a direct contest with Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee Vinayak Raut.

The BJP has never won any seat in the Konkan region. As per the latest EC data, Rane was leading over Raut by more than 55,000 votes. "Lotus has finally bloomed in Konkan," Rane said after participating in a celebration.

The Union minister credited his good show to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he will work for the development of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts.

Nandurbar Congress candidate Gowaal Padavi thanked voters as he solidifed a margin of 1.5 lakh votes over BJP's Heena Gavit. "This victory is not only mine, but the victory of the people and democracy," he said.

Counting is carried out under the supervision and direction of the Returning Officer (RO) for each seat, in the presence of the candidates and their election agents. The RO, who is typically the District Magistrate of the district concerned, is nominated by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Two types of votes are counted: EVM votes, and votes cast through postal ballots (which are used for senior citizens, physically challenged individuals, service voters, etc). Postal ballots are counted separately from EVM votes.

Barricades or wire mesh are set up around each counting table to ensure that the EVMs are not physically accessible to the counting agents. The agents are required to remain seated beyond the wire mesh or barricades.

Read more here

With an election that’s down to the wire, officials in the Election Commission reckon that a clearer picture with definite leads would emerge only by 4 pm, when about 15 to 20 rounds of counting would be over. On average, most parliamentary seats will have at least 20 rounds of counting.

Around 2 pm, according to EC sources, more than half of the votes polled during the Lok Sabha elections had been counted. However, around 1 pm, there were close to 40 seats in UP, Bihar, West Bengal and Maharashtra, where lead margins were less than 12,000 votes.

In extremely close contests, candidates sometimes want a recounting of votes. In such cases, she needs to submit an application to the Returning Officer (RO) — responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies — concerned.

Union Minister and BJP candidate from North Mumbai Lok Sabha seat Piyush Goyal thanked voters in his constituency as his lead solidified to over 2.5 lakh votes.

Goyal is pitted against Bhushan Patil, a Congress worker for more than three decades.

The BJP has retained this constituency seven out of the nine times since 1991. Veteran BJP leader and former Union Minister from the Vajpayee government Ram Naik held his position as the sitting MP from this constituency for 15 years between 1989 and 2004.

Amravati MLA Ravi Rana has claimed Shiv Sena (UBT) head and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will join the Modi government in 15 days after the Lok Sabha election results come out on Tuesday.
 
Leaders of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state should keep blood pressure medicines and doctors with them as many of them will fall sick on June 4, the day of vote counting, the Yuva Swabhiman Party MLA said.
 
The legislator also expressed confidence that his wife Navneet Rana will win the Amravati Lok Sabha seat by a margin of more than two lakh votes. In 2019, Navneet Rana won the Lok Sabha poll from Amravati as an independent candidate.

As India waits with bated breath for the Lok Sabha poll results, political analysts say this year's election was "one of the most polarised" with parties using caste and religion to garner votes.

While the BJP focused on integrating various backward castes under the Hindutva fold, the INDIA bloc tried to win over Other Backward Caste (OBC) voters by promising to conduct a caste survey if it is voted to power, they said.

Jagdeep Chokar, the co-founder of the poll rights body Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), said this election was "one of the most polarised" he has ever witnessed. "There was polarisation along the lines of caste, religion and region. It was not like this before. Caste has always been one of the most important mobilising factors in elections, but here, both caste and religion-based politics were at play," he told PTI.

Dr Iftekhar Ahmad Ansari, an associate professor at Aligarh Muslim University, pointed out that the realignment of castes has presented a challenge to the BJP. Bread-and-butter issues like unemployment and inflation raised by the INDIA bloc and its promise to conduct a caste survey if it is voted to power has cut into the carefully crafted OBC vote bank of the BJP, he said.

However, Sushila Ramaswamy, a Political Science professor at Jesus and Mary College, argued that while caste and religion are significant factors, they have limited influence. "Caste is a basic reality in the Indian context but there are limits to caste mobilisation. Identity politics across caste and religion has seen its limits. People now aspire for a good life, beyond these traditional divides," she told PTI.

The BJP's campaign was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who doubled down on development and mainly targeted Sharad Pawar in his rallies. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior leaders also hit the hustings.
 
The MVA canvassed on the "threat to the Constitution" narrative with Sharad Pawar addressing several rallies. Thackeray played the sympathy tune citing "gaddari" (treachery) by MLAs from the Shinde camp. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi addressed rallies with the theme of social justice and assurance to conduct a caste census if voted to power.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, during a two-day poll-cum-pilgrimage to Varanasi and Ayodhya, had said, "Our Hindutva is not limited to polls. We worship Lord Ram. It is an integral part of our deep-rooted faith and culture."

The deputy CM revealed he had visited Ayodhya even before the temple construction and later when the process was underway. He recalled his visit to the holy city as a young ‘kar sevak’ during the Ramjanmabhoomi movement and in the 1980s and 1990s. “We come here (Ayodhya) to seek darshan of Lord Ram, and offer prayers. It has nothing to do with politics or polls,” Fadnavis asserted.

With Shahu Maharaj Chhatrapati establishing a sizeable lead of over 74,000 at the end of the 17th round of counting, the Congress is all set to have an MP from Kolhapur in Maharashtra after 25 years.

Right from the postal ballot and first round of counting, Shahu Maharaj led over his nearest rival and sitting MP Sanjay Mandlik of the Shiv Sena, and his lead surged in every round.

Shahu Maharaj, the descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, approached the counting centre in Kolhapur, where enthusiastic Congress workers smeared him with "gulal". He asked them to wait until the counting was finished, saying, "Please wait for some more time."

Left with a handful of leaders and legislators, his nephew usurping his party name and symbol, veteran politician Sharad Pawar was down last year. Eleven months later, the 83-year-old has bounced back. With his party, NCP (SP) -- Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) --  leading in eight of the 10 Lok Sabha seats it contested in Maharashtra, Pawar has displayed his resolve to take up challenges and seems to have given a new lease of life to his party by hitting the highest strike rate as per the initial counting trends.  
 
The role of Pawar in this Lok Sabha election was being closely watched for more than two reasons. Firstly, Pawar Senior is considered the mastermind behind the initiative that saw the formation of the Opposition INDIA bloc at the pan-India level.  
 
Despite his cordial relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pawar not only gave a clarion call to fight against the BJP at the Centre and the state, but also set new narratives that often put his rivals on the backfoot.

The second reason to watch out for Pawar in this election was about his future and his party in Maharashtra, and by an extension at the Centre. But Pawar’s story is phoenix-like – rising from the ashes.

At least seven seats in Maharashtra saw the leading candidate securing a margin of over 1 lakh votes.

• Jalgaon - BJP's Smita Wagh (margin of 1.9 lakh votes)
• Mumbai North - BJP's Piyush Goyal (margin of 2 lakh votes)
• Raver - BJP's Raksha Khade (margin of 1.4 lakh votes)
• Osmanabad - Om Rajenimbalkar (margin of 1.6 lakh votes)
• Kalyan - Shiv Sena's Shrikant Shinde (margin of 1.8 lakh votes)
• Thane - Shiv Sena's Naresh Mhaske (margin in 1.5 lakh votes)
• Nandurbar - Congress' Gowaal Padavi (margin of 1.4 lakh votes)

In Madha constituency of Western Maharashtra, BJP turncoat and NCP-SP candidate Dhairyasheel Mohite Patil has taken a lead of 38,582 over sitting BJP MP Ranjeetsingh Naik Nimbalkar. 

The voting patterns of six assembly seats in Madha shows that Mohite Patil who is from a political strong family from Akluj in Solapur district, has by and large maintained his lead in the four assembly seats from Solapur district -- Karmala, Madha, Sangola and Malshiras. 

On the other hand Naik Nimbalkar, who is from the royal family of Phaltan in Satara has kept the lead in two assembly seats from Satara district -- Man and Phaltan. 

Clyde Crasto, national spokesperson of NCP (SP), said that the Maharashtra results are a clear mandate for MVA because the 'real' NCP and 'real' Sena are with Congress. "There is people's anger against BJP for breaking parties and families. Whoever they (the BJP) called corrupt were taken in the party. This however did not fool the people of Maharashtra," he said.

BJP candidate Murlidhar Mohol is all set to take decisive lead over Ravindra Dhangekar of Congress in the Pune lok sabha constituency, as his lead increased to 59,100 votes after ten rounds of the total 21 rounds of counting. His victory will ensure the BJP retains the seat which it won in the previous two elections.

Mohol was the former mayor of Pune and was the most popular face of party in the city to contest the Lok Sabha election. However, the victory margin of BJP is likely to be less than that in the previous two wins when Anil Shirole won in 2014 and Girish Bapat in 2019.

• Incumbent BJP MP Raksha Khadse from Raver increases her lead to 1.05 lakh
• In Kolhapur Loksabha seat, Congress candidate Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj is leading by over 79,477 votes.
• In Baramati, Supriya Sule leads with 15,852 votes.
• In Pune, Murlidhar Mohol of BJP gets a margin of 46,287 votes.
• In Sangli, Independent candidate Vishal Patil has consolidated a lead of 59,539 votes.

BJP leads with more than 1 lakh margin in two seats, namely Jalgaon and Mumbai North. Smita Wagh is leading by 1.3 lakh votes in Jalgaon while Piyush Goyal is leading by over 1.4 lakh in Mumbai North.

Meanwhile, the VBA has failed to secure any leads so far. In Akola, the party chief Prakash Ambedkar is trailing in the third position with 1,23,373 votes.

• After trailing for six rounds, BJP’s Pankaja Munde surges ahead after eighth round, albeit with a narrow margin.
• Shiv Sena UBT candidate from Osmanabad Om Rajenimbalkar leads by over 1.3 lakh votes.
• Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena candidate Shrikant Shinde from Kalyan seat leads by almost 1.4 lakh votes.
• Naresh Mhaske, the Shiv Sena candidate from Thane, is leading with 1.1 lakh votes.
• Raigad NCP candidate Sunil Tatkare leading 40,000 votes.
• Nashik Shiv Sena ( UBT) candidate Rajabhau Vaze leading with almost 32,000 votes, Shiv Sena ( Shinde) sitting MP Hemant Khadse trailing.
• Nandurbar Congress candidate Adv Gowaal Padavi leads by 1 lakh votes against incumbent BJP MP Heena Gavit.

After two consecutive Lok Sabha defeats earlier, the Indian National Congress this time is leading in the Solapur constituency of Maharashtra. Having secured over 50% of the EVM votes counted so far, INC’s Praniti Sushilkumar Shinde is leading with a margin of over 18,000 votes as against BJP’s candidate Ram Vithal Satpute.  

Praniti Shinde is the daughter of veteran leader Sushilkumar Shinde, the 2009 MP from Solapur, a constituency reserved for Scheduled Castes. In 2019, he lost to the Lingayat seer Jaysiddheswar Shivacharya who was the BJP’s candidate. In 2014, he lost to BJP’s Sharad Bansode.

Munnabhai Mulani from Khandoba Nagar, Baramati said Ajit Pawar’ office is empty today, calling him a "fame-seeker". "Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule are the ones who have actually done a lot development work," Mulani said.

He says that the lead that Sule is getting is a testimony of all the development that happened in her tenure, like setting up of medical colleges. “All the developments that have happened in Baramati are because of Tai (Sule) and Sharad Pawar,” he said.

Candidates of Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) have failed to garner public support as compared to previous two Lok Sabha elections.

In Pune city, where BJP's Murlidhar Mohol is leading by a significant margin over Congress candidate, VBA candidate Vasant More has garnered only 11,800 so far. In 2019 polls, VBA candidate had accumulated 41,000 votes.

VBA's Maval candidate Madhavi Joshi has garnered 8,500 votes. Shiv Sena candidate Srirang Barne is leading over Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Sanjog Waghere by a significant margin of 37,000 votes.

In Shirur, Dr Anwar Shaikh of VBA has got only 3100 votes so far. Dr Amol Kolhe of NCP (Sharad Pawar) is leading by 29,000 votes.

Congress leader Satej Patil said the lead secured by the party's Kolhapur candidate Chhatrapati Shahu Shahaji was expected.

"For the last several years, we have taken up various development works. Of course, Shahu Maharaj 's legacy has played a huge role," Patil told The Indian Express.

Vishal Patil, the Congress rebel leader who contested as an Independent in Western Maharashtra's crucial Sangli seat, has taken a strong lead over BJP's Sanjay Kaka Patil and Shiv Sena UBT's Chandrahar Patil.

Patil contested the Congress stronghold as Independent after the ticket went to Shiv Sena (UBT) in the INDIA bloc's seat-sharing formula.

Grandson of Congress stalwart and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vasantdada Patil, Vishal has received 1,70,880 votes (47.82 per cent) seat after the counting of 3,57,350 votes. BJP's Sanjay Kaka Patil has received 1,43,52 votes (40.16 per cent) while Shiv Sena UBT's Chandrahar Patil got 23,131 (6.47 per cent) votes.

In Baramati, Supriya Sule has slowly accumulated significant leads with her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar trailing her by 25,800 votes at the end of fifth round. She has been consistently getting marginal advantage from Baramati, Purandar, Indapur and Daund assembly constituencies. She has got significant leads from Bhor assembly constituency.

Meanwhile, Pawar has been able to get the lead in Khadakwasla - a constituency which forms parts of Pune city outskirts.

Even as BJP is leading in Pune, Congress leader Mohan Joshi remained upbeat and confident of winning the prestigious seat. "The winning margin may be small but we are hundred percent certain of a win, " said Joshi, who has been at the FCI godown Koregaon Park counting centre since 7 am tracking each counting room. "I will leave only after playing with the gulal after our victory,* he said.

Along with fireworks, slogans like “Supriya Tai tum aage badho, hum tumhare saath hai” (Supriya, keep growing, we are with you) and “Maharashtra cha buland awaaj Sharad Pawar, Sharad Pawar” (Maharashtra's strong voice Sharad Pawar) were chanted by supporters outside Sharad Pawar’s office in Baramati. This came as Supriya Sule secured a lead in the constituency.

Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar’s office in Baramati is remained deserted, with only a watchman at the door who informed visitors that party leaders and workers are in Pune, where the votes are being counted.

In Maharashtra, a total of 35 MPs who won in 2019 were renominated for the 2024 elections. However, 19 of these MPs are now trailing. The BJP is worst-hit, with 12 of its 17 renominated MPs are trailing. The Shiv Sena had renominated eight MPs, of which 5 are trailing.

• After leading in initial rounds, BJP's Pankaja Munde trailing by 6,808 votes from Beed Lok Sabha seat
• BJP's Piyush Goyal is leading with a 1.6 lakh margin from Mumbai North constituency.
• Ujjwal Nikam leading in Mumbai North Central by 50,699 votes
• Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi candidate Santosh Ambulge has polled 3,909 votes and is behind NOTA votes.
• In Osmanabad, the Shiv Sena UBT'S Omraje Nimbalkar is leading by over 86,000 votes
• In Thane, Shinde-led Shiv Sena candidate Naresh Mhaske is currently at 2,58,688, leading by over 89,000 votes. Meanwhile, Sena (UBT) candidate Rajan Vichare has polled 1,69,183 votes so far.

As Shinde-led Sena candidate Naresh Mhaske leads by over 70,000 votes in Thane, the party workers are jubilant. "That we are winning has been obvious, now it just remains to be seen by what margin we are winning," said a party worker from the Shinde-led Sena.

Meanwhile, party cadre from the Sena (UBT) echoed that with counting still underway, they have not lost hope. "Thane is Sena's gadh (fort) and we have worked hard to ensure that the Mashaal (party symbol) has reached the fort. Rajan Vichare has won twice and he has worked hard in the constituency to bring metro, bus depots and carry out other developmental work in the city. We are confident that Vichare is going to win the third term as well," said a Sena UBT worker.

In the early trends, the Shiv Sena UBT had an upper hand in the 13 Lok Sabha seats of Maharashtra where there is a direct fight between the two Shiv Senas led by Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Of the 13 seats, Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena UBT is leading on seven seats, while the Shinde-led Sena is leading on six seats, making it a close contest. 

While Sena UBT is leading in Hatkanangale, Osmanabad, Nashik, Mumbai South Central , Mumbai North East,Shirdi and Yavatmal Washim, Shinde-led Sena is leading in Thane, Kalyan, Maval, Mumbai North West and Aurangabad.

From Osmanabad, Omraje Nimbalkar is leading with the highest 59,000 votes against Archana Patil of NCP led by Ajit Pawar. From Mumbai's three seats Mumbai, Mumbai South Central and Mumbai North East too, the Sena candidates are leading. 

From Mumbai South Seat, the Sena UBT candidate Arwind Sawant is leading with over 34,000 votes. Similarly from Mumbai South Central seats, Sena UBT candidate Anil Desai is leading with around 23,000 votes.

As per the trends, Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray is leading on Mumbai South, Mumbai South Central and Mumbai North East seats. The BJP is leading on Mumbai North and Mumbai North Central while Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is leading on Mumbai North West.

Arvind Sawant, sitting LS MP from Mumbai South is leading against Shinde-led Sena's Yamini Jadhav by over 25,272 votes, while Anil Desai from Mumbai South Central is leading against sitting MP Rahul Shewale of Shinde Sena by 21,210 votes. Sanjay Dina Patil from Mumbai North East is leading against BJP's Mihir Kotecha by 8349 votes, as per the Election Commission of India.

Union minister Piyush Goyal is leading over Congress candidate Bhushan Patil by 70,071 votes, while Ujjwal Nikam from Mumbai North Central is leading against Congress Varsha Gaikwad by 36,922 votes. Shinde Sena's Ravindra Waikar is leading against Uddhav Sena's Amol Kirtikar by only 2,580 votes.

In 2019, the BJP and united Shiv Sena had won all six seats in Mumbai.

Following are the leads as of 12 pm:

Indian National Congress - 11
BJP - 11
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackrey) - 11
Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar - 8
Shiv Sena - 5
NCP - 1
Independent - 1

After the reorganisation of state on linguistic basis, Maharashtra was created on May 1, 1960. The first parliament polls after creation of the state took place in 1962.
 
Out of the then total 44 Lok Sabha seats, Congress impressively bagged 41 seats with a vote share of 51.9 per cent. At that time, the voter turnout was 60.4 per cent. While Praja Socialist Party won one seat, Independents won 2. The Congress dominance was complete both politically and among masses. It must be mentioned here that BJP was formed much later on April 6, 1980 and NCP on June 10, 1999.  Although Shiv Sena was formed on June 19, 1966 it contested Parliament polls only in late 1980s.
 
In the successive elections contested later, Congress remained unchallenged in Maharashtra. Out of the 15 Lok Sabha polls held between 1962 and 2019, Congress retained its leadership position in ten polls. This is evident from results --- 1962 (41 seats); 1967 (37); 1971 (42); 1977 (20); 1980 (39); 1984 (43); 1989 (28); 1991 (38); 1996 (15); 1998 (33); 1999 (10); 2004 (13); 2009 (17); 2014 (2), 2019 (1).

As of 12 pm, Congress is leading in 11 seats in Maharashtra, as per the Election Commission.

The result of the much-heated election to the Pune Lok Sabha seat will be out on Tuesday with almost a straight fight between the BJP and Congress which fielded fresh faces this time. While the Bharatiya Janata Party is fighting to retain the seat which it won in the previous two Lok Sabha elections, the Congress put in efforts to regain its lost bastion.

Here are a few factors that would decide the outcome of the Pune Lok Sabha seat

While most exit polls today predicted a close fight between Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi for the 48 seats of Maharashtra, in Pune district too it is likely to be a humdinger of a contest for the four seats.

• Supriya Sule is currently leading in Baramati by almost 12,000 votes.
• Barne is leading by almost 40,000 votes.
• Kolhe is leading by nearly 20,000 votes.
• Mohol is leading with almost 17,000 votes.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray said that his party has extended unconditional support to the ruling alliance to ensure Narendra Modi becomes the prime minister for the third term. “The country today needs strong leadership. When I met Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde, I told them that I am not interested in seat adjustment or Rajya Sabha or council. I told them that I have decided to extend unconditional support to the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP only to make Narendra Modi the prime minister for another term,” Thackeray said. 
 
However, MNS won no seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which raises questions on how much the support will translate into numbers to form majority.

As of now, the MNS has not secured a lead in any constituency.

“How can a daughter of this soil be termed an outsider? Isn’t it an insult of your daughters as well,” asked Rajashri Patil to the crowd gathered in the Asegaon village temple hall. The candidate of Ekanth Shinde-led Shiv Sena from Yavatmal-Washim Lok Sabha constituency is facing opposition criticism of being an outsider who has been “imported” at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

After being parachuted here since her husband and incumbent MP Hemant Patil’s candidature was cancelled from neighbouring Hingoli Lok Sabha seat, allegedly after a survey undertaken by the BJP, Patil faces the tough task of overcoming caste equations, tackling discontent from former MP Bhavana Gawli and winning a seat that is infamous for farmer suicides.

As of 11.40 am, she is trailing behind Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Deshmukh by a whopping margin of 30,000 votes.
 
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This is his first Lok Sabha election but he’s already got a headstart. Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal's candidature led to growing buzz on the ground that a vote for him will mean the local voice heard at the national level, in corridors of power in Delhi. “It will be a definite advantage for our constituency if it is represented by a person who is bound to be a Union Minister in the next Central Government,” said Deepak Joshi, a local resident of Bhadran Nagar in Malad West of the Mumbai North constituency, echoing many residents here.
 
“When Piyushji was the Railway minister, he frequented the Malad, Kandivali and Borivali stations and gave them a much-needed facelift. Being a Mumbaikar, he knows the suburban part of the city well. It will be easier for him to chalk out policies that will help us,” said Bharat Gupta, a local resident and businessman.

After 25 years, the Congress fielded a candidate, Prashant Padole, in the Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha constituency in eastern Vidarbha region. The BJP fielded sitting MP Sunil Mendhe from the seat.

In the last 25 years, the Congress always played the role of an alliance partner, leaving the Bhandara-Gondia constituency to the undivided NCP led by Sharad Pawar, with senior leader and former Union minister Praful Patel becoming the face of the Congress-NCP in Bhandara-Gondia. After the split in the NCP, Patel has aligned with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s faction.

Having fielded a candidate this time, Bhandara-Gondia, which is the paddy belt of Vidarbha, will be a litmus test for the Congress.

As of 11.30 am, Mendhe is ahead of Pandole by almost 6,000 votes.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis came up with a new narrative for Baramati when he said that the fight in the Lok Sabha constituency was not between Supriya Sule and Sunetra Pawar but between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

“Baramati has become a do-or-die battle for us. Even before Sunetra Pawar’s candidature was announced, the BJP had focussed on this challenging constituency which it has never been able to win in Maharashtra,” a senior BJP general secretary said, requesting anonymity.
 
Read Shubhangi Khapre's report

Union Minister Piyush Goyal leading from Mumbai North by 12,352 votes

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Ahmednagar BJP candidate Sujay Vikhe Patil ahead

Praniti Shinde leads by 21,000 in Solapur seat at the end of fourth round