The Mahayuti has secured a landslide victory with a 3/4th majority in Maharashtra assembly polls. The trio of Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis, and Ajit Pawar, riding on the success of the Laadki Bahin Yojana, reduced the MVA to less than 50 seats, far exceeding pollsters' predictions. Ajit Pawar's NCP, which had won just 1 of the 4 seats it contested in the Lok Sabha elections, made a remarkable turnaround, winning 41 out of the 58 seats it contested.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 235 seats, while the MVA secured 48 seats, and others took 5 seats. The Mahayuti captured 48% of the vote share, while the MVA secured 34%, and others (including allies of the two major alliances) accounted for 18%.
While Eknath Shinde performed much better in the Lok Sabha, winning 6 of the 13 one-on-one contests against Uddhav Thackeray, Ajit Pawar lost both direct contests against Sharad Pawar's NCP faction.
Ajit Pawar had been written off by many commentators and analysts, with some within the RSS/BJP leadership openly questioning the need for his inclusion in the Mahayuti, citing significant issues with vote transfer and even labelling the alliance as unnatural.
Second-Best Strike Rate
Ajit Pawar's NCP won 41 of the 58 seats it contested, with an impressive strike rate of 71%. Only the BJP outperformed this, winning 133 of the 149 seats it contested, with a strike........