04 June,2024 02:06 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
People gather to watch election results in Mumbai. Pic/Anurag Ahire
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA appeared falling significantly short of its target of bagging 45-plus of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, going by the latest trends in counting of votes for Maharashtra Lok Sabha Election Results 2024, reported the PTI.
The BJP was leading in 12 seats and allies Shiv Sena in 7 and NCP in 1 constituency as per the latest trends.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) seemed to be faring rather well, leading in 27 seats.
While the Congress was leading in 11, Shiv Sena (UBT) was leading in 9 and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) was ahead in 7 seats as of 1 pm on Tuesday as the counting of votes, which began at 8 am, progressed.
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.
In Maharashtra, a total of 35 MPs who won in 2019 were renominated for the 2024 elections. However, 19 of these MPs are now trailing. The BJP is worst-hit, with 12 of its 17 renominated MPs trailing.
The Shiv Sena had renominated eight MPs, of which 5 are trailing.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is leading from Nagpur Lok Sabha
As the counting is underway, according to the latest trend, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is leading from the Nagpur Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra.
Overall, as per the latest trends by the Election Commission on 542 Lok Sabha seats, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is crossing the halfway mark with the BJP leading on 238 seats and winning one seat. The NDA is leading on 295 seats as per the trends reported by the Election Commission.
The exit polls predicted that the ruling BJP-led NDA is poised to improve its performance over its 2019 record when it won 352 seats.
Most exit polls have predicted that PM Modi will return to power. If these predictions come true, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will become the first PM after Jawaharlal Nehru to win three successive terms in Lok Sabha polls.
The Lok Sabha elections were conducted in seven phases- on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1.
In the 2019 elections, NDA wrested 353 seats, of which the BJP won 303 alone. The Opposition's UPA got only 93 seats of which the Congress got 52.
(with ANI and PTI inputs)
