Maharashtra elections 2024: Both sides see higher turnout as a good sign

Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis. File Pic/Kirti Surve Parade (right) Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader

The opposite alliances have seen a sign of victory for them in the state's record polling in Wednesday's Assembly elections. The BJP said the pro-incumbency rise had benefited it and its allies in the past, too. Most exit polls have given the BJP-Mahayuti a clear advantage. However, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) refused to buy the predictions and stressed that the incremental voting was for the Opposition's victory.

Maharashtra recorded an average 65.11 per cent turnout, thanks to 10 out of 36 districts where over 75 per cent of voters cast exercised their franchise. Of the remaining districts, Mumbai City, Mumbai Suburban and Thane were below 57 per cent, while the rest were above 60 per cent. Kolhapur district bettered its Lok Sabha figures with 76.25 per cent. Kolhapur's Karvir Assembly segment (84.79 per cent) was the highest in the state.

Students of Gurukul Art Classes paint political party leaders' portraits at Lalbaug, on Thursday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

DyCM Fadnavis said whenever the turnout was higher, the BJP and its allies benefited from it. "So, this time too, we expect the same, and we will make our government," he said, adding that the cash transfer scheme for women "Ladki Bahin' which was one of the main agendas, could also be one of the reasons for the turnout rise. State Congress President Nana Patole said that the voters' enthusiasm (the rise in turnout) meant a victory for MVA and his party which will be the single largest party in the state.

Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson, Sanjay Raut predicted 160-165 seats for MVA. He said exit polls that declared the BJP a winner were fraud. "Don't believe exit polls. You saw what happened in the Lok Sabha and Haryana state polls. We will be getting a majority and claiming the right to make a government on November 23. We will also tell you who will be the next CM," he added.

Meantime, grapevine said that the parties had started preparing for the post-result machinations. The prospective winners from among the rebels, independents and small parties have been kept in touch to seek their support. In addition, the parties are learnt to have booked rooms in five-star hotels to accommodate their MLAs in one place. The chartered planes and helicopters that were pressed into service for the campaign have been kept on standby.

Since the current Assembly's term ends on November 26, only three days after the results, the new House must come into existence before the deadline. As mid-day had reported after the poll schedule was announced on October 15, the tight schedule will not impact political activity. State legislator's former principal secretary Anant Kalse had told mid-day, "The House must be constituted before its term ends. It won't affect if no party or alliance (in the case of a hung House) is able to form a government in the time available between the results and the House expiry date. The parties may take more time to decide their next course of action (as they did in 2019)."

In 2019, a stalemate followed after the winning combination of BJP and Shiv Sena (undivided) broke up over Uddhav Thackeray's demand for the CM's post. In the interim, the President's Rule was imposed and later lifted when BJP's Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar of then undivided NCP took oath as the CM and DyCM on November 23, but both quit within three days before the floor test happened. On November 28, the newly formed Maha Vikas Aghadi installed Thackeray as its CM. This government too fell in 2022 in the wake of a rebellion in the Sena. The formation changed into a three-party collaboration when the Ajit Pawar-led NCP splinter joined Sena's Eknath Shinde faction and the BJP.