The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance looked set for a runaway victory in Maharashtra, scoring an emphatic win over a tottering MVA, while the opposition INDIA bloc was poised to bag Jharkhand on Saturday, according to trends on the Election Commission website.
As votes were counted for the assembly polls held earlier this month, India's ruling and opposition alliances could bag one state each in the crucial electoral battle with voters in both going for continuity rather than change.
While the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP partnership banded under Mahayuti was leading in 218 of the 288 seats in the powerhouse state of Maharashtra indicating a huge wave in favour of the ruling alliance, the Maha Vikhas Aghadi (MVA) partnership of the Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) was ahead in just 50.
In the 81-seat Jharkhand assembly, the BJP was ahead in 26 seats, way behind the opposition alliance with JMM leading in 30 seats, the Congress in 13, the RJD in five and the CPI-ML in one.
“We will form government with a two-third majority in Jharkhand,” Congress leader Rajesh Thakur told PTI Videos as Hemant Soren looked set to return as chief minister.
"NDA will win Maharashtra and Jharkhand and Bihar bypolls. We will win because INDIA bloc wants to spread communalism in the country," Union minister Giriraj Singh told reporters as the BJP walked towards a triumphant comeback in Maharashtra.
The results come as a fillip for the BJP, which won an unprecedented hat-trick in Haryana last month, and help the party overcome some of its reverses in the general elections where it bagged just 240 seats.
Voters in the politically significant western state of Maharashtra, 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 ahead in 125 seats, close to the halfway mark of 144 on its own, while the Shiv Sena had leads in 56 and the NCP in 35. In contrast, the Congress was ahead in just 21, the Shiv Sena (UBT) in 17 and the NCP (SP) in 13.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were leading in their respective assembly constituencies. Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole was leading narrowly from Sakoli constituency and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and sitting MLA Aaditya Thackeray was leading in Worli assembly seat.
In what was a sobering lesson for the Congress, its legislature party leader and former minister Balasaheb Thorat was trailing in Sangamner as was senior Congress leader and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in Karad South assembly seat.
In the ruling Mahayuti alliance, the BJP contested 149 assembly seats, 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 NCP (SP) put up 86 candidates.
In eastern Jharkhand, the Hemant Soren-led JMM was ahead in 30 seats, the Congress in 14, the RJD in five and the CPI-ML in one. The BJP was ahead in 24. Chief Minister Soren was leading in his Barhait assembly seat while NDA ally AJSU Party supremo Sudesh Mahto was trailing behind JMM's Amit Kumar in Silli
The results will decide the electoral fate of 1,211 candidates, including Soren, his wife Kalpana from Gandey, former CM and BJP state president Babulal Marandi from Dhanwar and ex-CM Champai Soren from Seraikela.
Other prominent candidates include Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato of the JMM from Nala, Deepika Pandey Singh of Congress from Mahagama, Sita Soren (sister-in-law of CM Hemant Soren) from Jamtara, AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto from Silli.
