Mumbai: It is good news for the Mahayuti, with most pollsters predicting a comfortable victory for the ruling alliance over the Maha Vikas Aghadi after the Wednesday assembly elections in Maharashtra.
Exit polls predicted a tight contest, with an over 45% vote share for the Mahayuti and a 41% vote share for the MVA. The BJP, according to the exit polls, will emerge as the single-largest party.
The Maharashtra assembly has a total of 288 seats, which means that any alliance or party has to hit the 145-seat majority mark to form the government in the state.
Peoples Pulse, ABP-Matrize, and News 24-Chanakya exit polls gave the Mahayuti, which includes Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, BJP, and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, a simple majority with 150-180 seats.
The MVA, which has Shiv Sena-Uddhav Bal Thackeray, Congress, and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), will likely stop at 100-130 seats, according to the exit polls.
On the other hand, Lokshahi-Rudra predicted a tighter race, where the ruling alliance inches past the MVA to secure a win.
Numbers predicted by pollsters
Peoples Pulse predicted a thumping majority for the Mahayuti. The ruling alliance will win 182 seats, according to its exit poll. The MVA is expected to struggle to reach 97 while other parties will likely secure nine seats.
The ABP-Matrize exit poll gives Mahayuti 150-170 seats and the MVA 110-130. Other parties, the pollster predicts, will get 8-10 seats.
News 24-Chanakya, on similar lines, predicts a decent majority for the Mahayuti—152-160 seats. The Maha Vikas Aghadi will likely get 130-138 seats and other parties the remaining six to eight seats.
Slightly moving away from these predictions, Lokshahi-Rudra has limited Mahayuti to 128-142 seats while increasing the MVA’s wins to 125-140. Other parties, it predicts, will win 18-23 seats.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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