BJP sees historic poll performance, Mahayuti gets over 230 seats; Cong-led bloc bites dust

MUMBAI: The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance on Saturday retained power in Maharashtra, scripting an incredible performance by making a clean sweep in 230 of the 288-Assembly seats.

- VINAY KUMAR

The ruling alliance left the Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) miles behind, dashing the opposition combine's hopes which could bag only 46 seats.

The Election Commission announced that the BJP has won 132 seats, the Shiv Sena won 57, while the NCP got 41 seats.

In the MVA, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidates won 10 seats, Congress won 16, while Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) won 20 seats.

With the Mahayuti's impressive performance which exceeded all expectations and even projections of the exit polls, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP's most recognisable face and architect of the dream victory in Maharashtra, has emerged as one of the most prominent national figures in the party.

The Assembly poll results in the politically important state have also delivered the most significant defeat to Sharad Pawar as his faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was in alliance of MVA with the Congress and Uddhav Thackeray's faction of the Shiv Sena.

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.