Lok Sabha Exit Polls: BJP Set To Top Maharashtra But Allies Might Let NDA Down
As per five exit polls, the NDA is projected to win more than 30 seats out of 48 in Maharashtra.
The National Democratic Alliance will likely win a larger number of seats in Maharashtra on the back of the Bharatiya Janata Party retaining its turf, even as allies Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party contend with losses, exit polls showed on Saturday.
As per five exit polls, the NDA is projected to win more than 30 seats out of 48 in Maharashtra. The opposition INDIA bloc that counts the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharad Pawar) will secure at least 15 seats.
The BJP's Maharashtra alliance strategy might not have worked, according to senior journalist Rohit Chandavarkar, who expects the alliance to win 22-23 seats. "The NDA may drop 20 seats in Maharashtra. Eknath Shinde, Deve Gowda (in Karnataka) and Ajit Pawar’s parties are going to do badly."
He also said the BJP may go in for a change in equations in the western state, ahead of the assembly elections due in 5-6 months.
"BJP bought insurance with its new Maharashtra allies," Sandip Ghose, writer and political commentator, said.
In 2019, the NDA that comprised BJP and the undivided Shiv Sena won 41 seats, with 51.34% vote share—the former winning 23 of 25 seats it contested. The allies drifted later that year on the issue of chief ministership.
The Shiv Sena split in mid-2022, when Eknath Shinde walked over to the BJP with a majority of the party's elected officials. The faction with Uddhav Thackeray maintained its alliance with the Congress under the Maha Vikas Aghadi.
The NCP, too, spilt the next year. Ajit Pawar allied with the BJP, while his uncle Sharad Pawar remained in the opposition bloc.
