Maharashtra elections results: All you need to know

Here’s a quick lowdown on the Maharashtra assembly elections.

Devendra Fadnavis on forefront

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who led the BJP’s charge in Maharashtra, is leading from Nagpur South-West. The number of seats the BJP manages to win will be a direct verdict on Fadnavis’s tenure as CM as well as his campaigning abilities. If Fadnavis comes back to power, he will be the first BJP chief minister — and the first Brahmin chief minister — to get two terms on the chair in Maharashtra.

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Aaditya Thackeray in the fray

Early trends suggest Aaditya Thackeray, who became the first member of the Thackeray family to take the electoral plunge, is leading in Worli constituency. For the past few years, Sena has been grooming Aaditya as its more liberal, urbane face. Recently, Aaditya had taken a stand opposite to that of senior alliance partner BJP in the Aarey metro shed row, and promised Aarey would be declared a forest if Sena returns to power in these polls.

Sharad Pawar — Old warhorse’s last charge?

For the Opposition camp, Sharad Pawar had taken the lead in campaigning, addressing 66 rallies. Pawar’s NCP has been besieged by defections and cases by investigative agencies against its top leaders. Recently, ED had booked Pawar, his nephew Ajit Pawar and others in an alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam. The Assembly election results will be significant not just for the NCP, but also for the political fortunes of Pawar family, several of whom are in the fray.

Bharat Ratna for Savarkar and other promises

In its poll manifesto this time, the BJP has pledged one crore jobs to youth and a drought-free Maharashtra, among other promises. It has also said it will make efforts to ensure a Bharat Ratna for Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Savitribai Phule and Veer Savarkar. The manifesto also promises 50 per cent women participation in economic growth.

The Congress, on its part, has promised a blanket farm loan waiver, a monthly unemployment allowance of Rs 5,000 for jobless youth, and a three-year tax holiday for start-ups launched by women, among other promises.

All roads lead to BJP

In the run-up to the Assembly polls, several big names from the Congress and the NCP joined the BJP. Notable among these are Harshawardhan Patil and Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil from the Congress — Vikhe Patil was the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly — Navi Mumbai strongman Ganesh Naik from the NCP, and Shivaji Maharaj descendent and NCP MP Udayanraje Bhosale.

Farm distress, flood woes

Challenges for the BJP this time include the widespread farm distress in Maharashtra and the government’s response to the recent floods in the state. In fact, voter-turnout in Kolhapur and Sangli, the districts worst hit by floods, was high when compared with the rest of the state. The unmet reservation demand by the Dhangar community may also pose a problem for the ruling alliance.

VBA, AIMIM fighting separately

While Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM were initially been in talks for an alliance, the two parties could not seal a deal and are now fighting separately. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, the AIMIM has managed to win two seats in Maharashtra, while the VBA had dented the Congress-NCP’s vote share.

The MNS too is fighting from over a 100 seats, though Raj Thackeray’s campaign has been lacklustre.

How many seats up for grabs

There are 288 seats in Maharashtra, apart from one nominated seat. Of these, 29 are reserved for Schedule Caste and 25 for Schedule Tribes. While the BJP’s campaign was high on starpower, with rallies by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah along with other leaders, from the Congress, Rahul Gandhi addressed just one rally.