Ladki Bahin was bird in hand that brought Mahayuti back to power

The biggest victor in the election is Raj Thackeray and the MNS, whose sole purpose was to eat into Opposition votes. In Mumbai lingo, he can be called the political supari killer

- Abhay Mokashi

The victory of the Mahayuti comprising Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena (Shinde) and Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar), is not shocking, since it was felt till the time of counting that there would be a neck-and-neck fight between this alliance and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), but the landslide victory of the former is surprising.

While the results of all elections have to be accepted by all, there is a need to look into the causes leading to the results. The major defeat in the legislative assembly elections is not of the MVA, but all that Maharashtra stood for over the years.

The major factor that helped the Mahayuti to achieve the unprecedented success is the Ladki Bahin scheme introduced just a few months before the announcement of the elections.

The beneficiaries preferred to go by the idiom: A bird in hand is better than two in the bush. Thus the MVA promise of increasing the amount to Rs 3,000 per month did not have an impact on women, who were seen coming out in large numbers to cast their votes.