New Delhi [India], November 22 (ANI): The results of fierce electoral battle in Maharashtra will unfold tomorrow with the leaders of ruling Mahayuti and opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) expressing confidence of their victories. Arrangements are also in place for counting votes for Jharkhand assembly polls and bypolls on 48 assembly and two Lok Sabha seats across 15 states.
Votes will be counted from 8 am and trends are expected to emerge in the next two hours in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
In Maharashtra, Mahayuti, which includes BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP is locked in a fierce contest with MVA that includes Congress, Shiv Sena(UBT) and NCP(SP).
Polling for the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly was held on Wednesday, with 66.05 per cent polling recorded in the state against nearly 61 per cent in the 2019 Assembly elections.
Mahayuti and MVA leaders are both interpreting the increased voting percentage as a sign of greater support for them.
State’s Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam lauded efforts for increased voter participation.
“Election Commission of India gave a lot of focus, attention and time for Maharashtra this time. Each and every strategy was conceptualised and implemented with high precision.
This resulted in a huge number of addition in the voter list also between the Parliament election and the current election. Efforts made to make voting easier, especially in a place like Mumbai where we had some problems at the time of Parliament elections but this time everyone praised the arrangements,” he said.
“So, so much work has been done. The Election Commission thanks all the voters who came out to vote on the day to ensure that history is created… We have increased by 5 per cent more. We want to thank all of them. Nearly 6 lakh officers and employees were putting their efforts into welcoming the voters and ensuring that they vote very easily,” he added.
In Mahayuti, BJP is contesting the largest number of seats at 148 followed by Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at 80 and NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at 52. There are six more seats where Mahayuti candidates are in the fray.
In MVA, Congress is contesting 102 seats, Shiv Sena (UBT) 96 seats and NCP (SP) 86 seats. Two seats are being contested by Samajwadi Party and two seats by smaller MVA allies.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi exuded confidence in MVA reclaiming power in Maharashtra.
“People of Maharashtra are going to free them (Mahayuti) for the next 25 years. The government of loot, corruption, and Adani is going to end. We will get the majority. They are booking helicopters because they know people will ask them questions, and they need to run away,” she told ANI.
Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav also expressed confidence of MVA’s victory.
“Mahayuti will form the government. We are going to win with a majority…The result will be in our favour… The name of the CM will be announced after the result. There is no competition in the alliance…We will get above 200 seats,” he said.
Most exit polls predicted Mahayuti’s victory with some suggesting that it is a tight race between the two alliances.
BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh said INDIA bloc will be “wiped out” in the results for Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly polls.
“Those who have been blaming EVMs for their defeat, when they won the elections in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana, the EVMs were correct. Just like people rejected Congress in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana, similarly in Maharashtra the Congress-led alliance will be wiped out, the people will give a befitting reply to the corrupt, parivarvaad parties. PM Modi’s government, which works for the poor, women and the youth will get the blessings of the people,” Chugh told ANI.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said MVA will get 160-165 seats.
“The results will be out tomorrow. We are sure that we are going to get the majority. 160-165 of our MLAs would be elected… The ‘Khokha walas’ will pressurise them, so we have made an arrangement for them to stay together in a hotel… Sharad Pawar, Congress and Uddhav Thackeray will have a role to play (in choosing the CM face)… The MVA will get the complete majority and we will make a unanimous decision… No formula has been made yet, everyone will sit together and choose the CM,” he said.
This is the first election after splits in the NCP and Shiv Sena.
In the 2019 elections, BJP won 105 seats, undivided Shiv Sena 56, undivided NCP 54, Congress 44, independents 13 and others 16 seats.
The results have implications for all the players, particularly NCP and Shiv Sena.
Uddhav Thackeray lost his chief ministerial position due to split in his party in 2022 and the party has been keen to prove a point in the assembly polls.
His key rival Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also gained popularity due to welfare measures initiated by Mahayuti government and there is a seeming clash over who is true inheritor of Balasaheb Thackeray’s legacy.
NCP also suffered a split with Ajit Pawar joining the ruling alliance as Deputy Chief Minister in July last year.
His uncle Sharad Pawar, who now heads NCP(SP), kept a tight campaign and has been keen to see that there is no dent to his long legacy in politics.
A lot is at stake for Congress in the Maharashtra assembly polls after the party is seen to have bungled its prospect in the Haryana assembly polls earlier this year. BJP has formed its third successive government in Haryana earlier this year.
Results will also be declared tomorrow also for Jharkhand assembly polls tomorrow and for bypolls to 48 assembly and two Lok Sabha seats.
In Jharkhand, while the ruling JMM-led alliance is banking on its work and promises, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is hopeful of getting people’s support on its promises and work of central government.
The campaign saw BJP leaders targeting JMM-led alliance over its performance and raised the issue of “infiltration” and tribal rights in the state.
The state went to polls in two phases – November 13 and November 20 – for 81 assembly seats.
Exit polls have been split in their predictions concerning Jharkhand with most of them stating that BJP-led NDA will win the polls.
The BJP-led alliance in Jharkhand includes the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Janata Dal (United), and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) while the JMM-led alliance consists of Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist).
Leaders of parties in the two alliances expressed confidence of their victories.
BJP leader and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi said NDA will win more than 51 seats.
“BJP workers have worked hard on the ground and based on the information received from them, I can say that the BJP-led NDA alliance will win more than 51 seats in the Jharkhand assembly elections,” he told ANI.
Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir, who is AICC-in-charge of the state, said people have voted for JMM-led alliance.
“BJP has hidden their face after the first phase of the election here…In the second phase they have done face-saving…People have voted for the Hemant Soren government…We are going to win more than 50% seats,” he said.
Congress leader Rajesh Thakur said the truth will come out in the results and BJP’s claims will turn out to be wrong.
“BJP is saying they would get 55 odd seats, last time they mentioned 65 seats. When someone contests elections, a party contests elections and all feedbacks come, they speak their mind. Results will be out tomorrow and the truth will come out. We trust the public. With the kind of mandate they have given, we can say that we are going to form the government once again. We are going to form a strong government. We will also ensure to provide (government) scheme to those who have been deprived,” Thakur told ANI.
Counting of votes will begin at 8 am and officials said all arrangements have been made for the process.
Varun Ranjan, Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer, Ranchi, said that the officials were briefed regarding counting process and do’s and don’ts.
“We have also explained them scenarios like if there is data missmatch in EVMs, if data is not coming on EVMs, then what they have to do. They have also been told how to count postal ballots,” he said.
Jharkhand saw 67.74 per cent voter turnout in the two phases of elections.
Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar said on Thursday that the voter turnout in the second phase of state elections was 68.95 per cent.
“The strong rooms of all the assembly constituencies have been sealed. The scrutiny has been done…There has been no recommendation for repoll in any of the constituencies.
Combining both phases, the voter turnout is 67.74 per cent… The final voting percentage will be declared on counting day, combining the votes of the postal ballot also,” he told reporters.
Prominent candidates in the fray included Chief Minister Hemant Soren, his wife Kalpana Soren, and his sister-in-law Sita Soren from the JMM. Key BJP leaders in the second phase included former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi, Assembly Speaker Ravindra Nath Mahto (JMM), AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto, and Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri.
A total of 528 candidates were in the fray in the second phase of the Jharkhand elections, including 55 women, one third-gender candidate, and 472 male candidates.
The first phase of the Jharkhand polls was held in 43 of 81 assembly seats on November 13.
Among the constituents of INDIA bloc, JMM is contesting on 43 seats, Congress 30, RJD on six and CPI(ML) four. BJP is contesting 68 seats, AJSU 10, JD(U) two and LJP one seat.
In the previous assembly election, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha won 30 seats, the BJP won 25 and Congress won 16 seats.
The bypolls have also strongly fought in various states besides Uttar Pradesh, where nine assembly seats saw polling on Wednesday. Bypolls were held on 48 assembly and two Lok Sabha seats across 15 states. In Wayanad in Kerala, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. The bypolls were held in two phases.
The bypolls in Uttar Pradesh are significant for the BJP and Samajwadi Party as both the parties are aiming to seize momentum for 2027 assembly polls.
The ruling BJP suffered a setback in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year as it won 33 seats with Samajwadi Party winning 37 seats. Congress and Samajwadi Party fought the Lok Sabha polls together and in the assembly polls the former is extending its support to the latter.
Chief Minister Yogi Adiyanath campaigned extensively for the bypolls. Votes will be counted in Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, Sisamau, Khair, Phulpur, and Kundarki constituencies.
Reports said five Uttar Pradesh policemen were placed under suspension by the Election Commission over complaints that they were preventing voters from casting their ballot in three constituencies.
Opposition SP accused the ruling BJP of misusing government machinery to prevent SP supporters, especially “burqa-clad women”, from casting votes.
In Karnataka, Channapatna bypolls saw a high profile competition between NDA candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy and CP Yogeshwara on November 13. Nikhil Kumaraswamy is the son of former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kuamaraswamy.
Wayanad seat was vacated by Priyanka Gandhi’s brother Rahul Gandhi, who also won Lok Sabha polls from family stronghold of Raebareli. Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi campaigned extensively in Wayanad.
Apart from Uttar Pradesh, seven assembly seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four each in Punjab and Bihar and three in Karnataka went for bypolls. (ANI)
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