MUMBAI/RANCHI: The BJP-led Mahayuti coloured Maharashtra a vivid saffron on Saturday as it swept aside the MVA for a landslide win while the opposition INDIA bloc retained Jharkhand, voters in both states giving the parties in power an emphatic thumbs up.
Counting of votes for the two assembly elections underscored with slogans such as “katenge toh batenge” and “ek hain toh safe hai” began at 8 am, signalling very soon that it was celebration time for the BJP in Maharashtra.
The party was winning or leading in 132 of the 149 seats it contested in the powerhouse state. Together with its partners Shiv Sena and NCP, the ruling Mahayuti alliance could win 228 of the 288 seats in the state, leaving the Congress-Shiv Sena (UBT)-NCP (SP) tie-up virtually decimated with just 47 seats.
As the opposition reeled under the impact of the decisive mandate against it in Maharashtra, Jharkhand offered consolation, with voters giving a possible two-thirds victory to the JMM-led alliance.
In the 81-seat Jharkhand assembly, the BJP had won or was leading in 20 seats, while the Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s JMM could score 35, the Congress 16, the RJD four, and the CPI-ML in one, adding to 56 seats, according to the Election Commission website.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the JMM-led alliance for its win in Jharkhand and thanked the people of the state for their support of the BJP. As party workers smeared colour on each other, danced to drumbeats, and distributed sweets in various places, Modi was fulsome in his praise for the Maharashtra victory.
“Development wins! Good governance wins! United, we will soar even higher! Heartfelt gratitude to my sisters and brothers of Maharashtra, especially the youth and women of the state, for a historic mandate to the NDA. This affection and warmth is unparalleled,” Modi said in a post on X.
With the Mahayuti walking the road towards power in a runaway win that went ahead of what exit polls had predicted, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, “People have rejected politics of hatred and revenge, accepted politics of welfare and development.”
Describing the day as historic, the Shiv Sena leader said the “people took election in their hands to give the Mahayuti a landslide victory.”.
As his alliance colleagues attributed the stunning win to welfare schemes such as the Laadki Behna scheme, his son and Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde said the mandate shows who is taking Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideals forward. It was a pointer to the fractured legacy of the Shiv Sena founder, whose son Uddhav heads the Shiv Sena (UBT).
On the other side of the spectrum was Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, who alleged that there was a “big conspiracy” and something was “fishy.”.
Adding that there was little doubt in his mind that money was used in the polls, Raut said, “How can all MLAs of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde win? How can Ajit Pawar, whose betrayal angered Maharashtra, win?”
Voters in the politically significant western state, 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.
The BJP was winning or ahead in 132 seats, close to the halfway mark of 144 on its own, while the Shiv Sena totted 56 and the NCP 41. In contrast, the Congress was ahead in just 16, the Shiv Sena (UBT) in 21, and the NCP (SP) in 10.
The mandate gives a fillip to the BJP, which won an unprecedented hat-trick in Haryana last month, and helps the party overcome some of its reverses in the general elections, where it bagged just 240 seats.
After the certainty of the poll outcome, the focus shifted to BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, the architect of his party’s stunning victory. Political circles are abuzz with reports that the state’s second Brahmin to become the CM will don the post for the third time.
“Leaders of Mahayuti parties will decide (on next CM),” Fadnavis said on his part.
“Today’s verdict shows that the entire community stands united behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The ‘ek hain toh safe hai’ slogan has been a success, particularly for ladki bahins (dear sisters) who benefit from this scheme, receiving Rs 1,500 per month,” he said.
The Maharashtra verdict, which gives primacy to the BJP within the Mahayuti alliance, was also the stuff of sober introspection for the Congress, and Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar was once considered invincible.
The three Congress big guns in the state—Nana Patole, Balasaheb Thorat, and Prithiviraj Chavan—were trailing till late evening.
The Congress, for which Priyanka Gandhi’s win the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll is the proverbial silver lining in a dark cloud, counted its reverses in Maharashtra.
“It’s devastating, heartbreaking for us… The BJP is leading due to the amazing groundwork they must’ve done and seat distribution,” Congress spokesperson Lavanya Ballal told deKoder.
In the ruling Mahayuti alliance, the BJP contested 149 assembly seats, the Shiv Sena 81 seats, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP in 59 constituencies. In the MVA combine, the Congress fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and the NCP (SP) 86.
In Jharkhand, Chief Minister Hemant Soren expressed his gratitude to the people of the state for the INDIA bloc’s stellar performance and said it had passed the exam of democracy.
“We are going to get the reward for the work we did… and also for the manner in which we remained connected to the public,” Congress leader Rajesh Thakur told PTI Videos as the INDIA bloc neared victory in Jharkhand.
The BJP’s poll plank was driving out “infiltrators” from the Santhal Parganas region, but it seemed to have fallen flat in front of the ‘Adivasi’ card played by the JMM, which also sought the people’s sympathy over the arrest of Soren.
Bickering within the BJP over giving nominations to turncoats seemed to have cost the party, observers said. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the BJP co-incharge for the assembly elections in Jharkhand, said the people’s mandate must be accepted as that is the true essence of democracy.
“The loss in Jharkhand is deeply painful for me personally, even though we secured victory in all five by-elections in Assam…” he said in a post on X.
Sarma said the BJP fought the elections with a vision to protect the state from “infiltration” and to lead it on the path of development.
