BJP-led alliance suffers jolt in Maharashtra

The Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a setback in Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra on Tuesday, with its tally dwindling by less than half compared to 2019, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar was on a roll, pocketing 30 of the 48 seats.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance fell significantly short of its target of bagging 45-plus seats in Maharashtra.

The BJP won nine seats, a far cry from the 23 it won in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in the state. Its ally Shiv Sena won seven seats. Another ally, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP bagged one seat, but his wife Sunetra Pawar faced defeat in Baramati from Supriya Sule, daughter of Sharad Pawar.

The Congress won 13 seats, the Shiv Sena-UBT won nine, while NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar won eight seats.

Vishal Patil, a Congressman-turned-independent won the Sangli seat. He later said he would abide by any decision the Congress takes about his re-entry in the party.

His inclusion will take the MVA tally to 31 in the state.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, the BJP won 23 seats while its then ally Shiv Sena (undivided) bagged 18. The then undivided NCP had bagged four constituencies, whereas the Congress could win just one seat.

The BJP-led NDA had set the bar high this time with a target to win 45 plus constituencies in Maharashtra.

Shiv Sena-UBT president Uddhav Thackeray said that the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) would meet on Wednesday to decide the prime ministerial face for the alliance.

Thackeray said the common man had shown his power in the mandate, adding the opposition needed to stake claim to form government at the Centre.

The BJP-led NDA was trying to portray that they had the numbers to form the next government in the country, he said.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the NDA's performance in the state was due to the Opposition's "propaganda" that the BJP would change the Constitution after the polls.

"But in elections, the people's mandate has to be accepted as it is. We will do deep introspection and will recover our loss in the next assembly election," Fadnavis posted on X.

Shiv Sena's Ravindra Waikar won the Mumbai North West seat, defeating Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee Amol Kirtikar by 48 votes, the smallest margin in the state in the 2024 general elections.

In Nagpur, Union minister Nitin Gadkari defeated Congress nominee Vikas Thakre by 1,37,603 votes.

In Mumbai North, Union minister Piyush Goyal of BJP defeated Bhushan Patil of Congress by 3,56,996 votes.

Congress candidate Varsha Gaikwad won from Mumbai North Central seat. She defeated lawyer Ujjwal Nikam of BJP by 16,514 votes.

In coastal Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat, Union minister Narayan Rane of BJP trounced Shiv Sena-UBT nominee Vinayak Raut by 47,858 votes.

In Mumbai South, Shiv Sena-UBT nominee Arvind Sawant defeated Shiv Sena's Yamini Jadhav by 52,673 votes.

In Mumbai South Central, where Shiv Sena-UBT headquarters is located, that party's Anil Desai defeated Shiv Sena's Rahul Shewale by 53,384 votes.

Congress nominee Balwant Wankhade defeated BJP's Navneet Rana in Amravati seat by 19,731 votes.

In Dindori, Union minister and BJP candidate Bharati Pawar lost to NCP-SP nominee Bhaskar Bhagare by 1,13,199 votes.

In Kalyan, CM Eknath Shinde's son and Shiv Sena nominee Shrikant Shinde defeated Shiv Sena-UBT candidate Vaishali Darekar-Rane by 2,09,144 votes.