Will Fadnavis take oath as Maharashtra CM on Monday?

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance was on Saturday on course to retain power in Maharashtra, maintaining sway over 231 of the 288 assembly seats, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi's dream of wresting power fizzled, with the opposition combine ahead in just 49 seats.

While results have been declared in 183 seats, counting of votes, which began at 8 am, is still in progress in the remaining 105 seats, election officials said.

After the certainty of the poll outcome, the focus has now 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.

There is already speculation that the swearing in of the new CM may take place as early as Monday and that too in the same venue, the sprawling Wankhede Stadium in south Mumbai, where Fadnavis was sworn in as the CM 10 years ago.

As per the latest figures from the Election Commission, the BJP has so far won 77 seats and is leading in 56, the Shiv Sena won 37 and is ahead in 20 seats, while the Nationalist Congress Party has won 32 and is leading in nine seats.

In the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar candidates won six seats and were leading in four seats, the Congress won eight and its candidates were leading in seven seats, while Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray won 14 and was leading in six seats.

The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi suffered a crushing defeat, with its candidates leading in just 49 seats, a far cry from the boasts -- till this morning -- by many of its senior leaders that the combine will trounce the Mahayuti.

Going by the results, Maharashtra may not have a leader of opposition in the Lower House, as norms stipulate that a party should have at least 10 per cent of the total members of the assembly and not cobble up the number as an alliance.

Saturday's winners include BJP's Kalidas Kolambkar who defeated Shiv Sena-UBT's Shraddha Jadhav by 24,973 in Wadala constituency after 16 rounds to become a legislator for the ninth time in a row.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar won in their respective assembly constituencies, while senior Congress leaders Prithviraj Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat lost in theirs.

Congress leader Nana Patole was trailing behind his BJP rival in Sakoli seat by 1607 votes after 25 of the 28 rounds.

Shinde said the results of the assembly elections were historic, and showed to whom the Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena belong to.

Fadnavis said there was no dispute over the chief minister's post and leaders of Mahayuti will decide on the issue together as the saffron party-led coalition is heading for a landslide victory.

The results show that the state supports PM Narendra Modi, he said, and also thanked women voters.

"The opposition's efforts to propagate a fake narrative, and polarise voters based on religion was foiled by masses," said Fadnavis.

The deputy CM said he succeeded in breaking the 'chakravyuh' of opposition due to the support of voters, the BJP team and party leaders.

Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah called Fadnavis and congratulated him on the party's impressive performance in the Maharashtra assembly elections.

Sources close to Fadnavis told PTI that Shah called and congratulated him for the party's strong performance in the elections.

Sarita Fadnavis, mother of Devendra Fadnavis, also expressed happiness over Mahayuti's performance, and described her son as PM Modi's favourite.

"I never believed in any rumours and knew that he (Devendra) would do good. The party's success can be attributed to the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme and Devedra's efforts and popularity...He is very intelligent, smart and courageous and that has brought him this success," she said.

On the Ladki Bahin Yojana, she said, "I don't have a daughter, but through this scheme, I now have so many daughters and their good wishes."

BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde told reporters, "Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar worked together and gained people's trust. Sharad Pawar broke the natural alliance of Shiv Sena and BJP. Balasaheb Thackeray's voters were angry due to it."

"Every day, someone from Bhandup used to pollute the state's politics," he said, without naming Shiv Sena-UBT leader Sanjay Raut, who is a resident of that area.

The counting of votes in the Maharashtra assembly elections began at 8 am Saturday, with all eyes on the outcome of the battle between the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti coalition and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.

The final turnout in the polls, held on November 20, was 66.05 per cent, up from 61.1 per cent in 2019.

In the Mahayuti, the BJP contested 149 seats, Shiv Sena 81, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP fielded candidates in 59 constituencies.

In the MVA combine, the Congress fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena-UBT 95, and NCP-SP put up 86 candidates.

Following is the party position in the outgoing assembly: the BJP 105, the Shiv Sena 41, the NCP 40, the Congress 45, the Shiv Sena-UBT 15, the NCP-SP 12, the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi 3, the Samajwadi Party 2, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen 2, the Prahar Janshakti Party 2, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena 1, the Communist Party of India-Marxist 1, the Peasants and Workers Party 1, the Swabhimani Paksh 1, the Rashtriya Samaj Paksh 1, the Jan Surajya Shakti 1, the Krantikari Shetkari Paksh 1 and Independents 13.