Maharashtra Election 2024 Result LIVE: Mahayuti Alliance Trumps MVA In Early Trends

In Maharashtra, the Mahayuti alliance is in the lead with 218 as the Maha Vikas Aghadi trails behind with 59 seats.

With a lead for Mahayuti, the BJP led alliance is expecting to retain its term as the state government.

In the Vandre East seat, Zeeshan Siddique is currently trailing.

Siddique, who has support from the Muslim community and was expected to gain more votes due to the recent murder of his father Baba Siddique last month, is currently trailing behind Varun Sardesai.

Varun Sardesai, is the nephew of Uddhav Thackeray and since the split in 2022, Varun has managed to tap into Shiv Sena's traditional voter base.

As per the early trends from ECI, Aaditya Thackeray is in the lead in Worli.

In the high-profile Mumbai seat, Thackeray, who enjoyed a landslide victory in 2019, is up against Milind Deora, former MP from South Mumbai. Deora is banking on votes from the urban middle-class voters. Sa

Sandeep Deshpande from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is also in the running. While the voter base for Deshpande is small, the MNS Leader is known for his focus on local issues such as housing and infrastructure.

CM Eknath Shinde has become pivotal to Maharashtra politics after the 2019 political crisis— his defection from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in 2022. Shinde led a faction that aligned with the BJP and is widely considered the architect of the MVA government’s collapse after which he assumed the role of Chief Minister in June 2022.

His campaign ismarked by pushing his faction as the "real" Shiv Sena. This was solidified in 2023 when the Election Commission recognised his group as the legitimate claimant to the party's name and symbol.

In 2024, he campaigned on an anti-corruption agenda, calling the MVA a "Maha Vasooli Aghadi" (a coalition of extortionists) in an attempt to discredit them. His early lead indicates that his pro-development agenda along with the introduction of women-centric schemes such as such as the Ladki Bahin Yojana have had some impact on voters.

As per the latest trends from the Election Commission of India, the Mahayuti alliance is in the lead.

As of 9 AM, Shinde Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party have three leads each. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party and NCP Sharad Pawar have one lead each.

A central figure in the Maharashtran political scene, Devendra Fadnavis has taken the lead in the vote count from Nagpur South West as of 8;48am. As the Deputy Chief Minister under the BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) coalition, Fadvanis carries influencef beyond his constituency, and his win could be a sign of a Mahayuti sweep in these elections.

Fadnavis ran a campaign centred around development. In many rallies he reiterated his vision for Maharashtra to become a $1 trillion economy. His promises included boosting infrastructure, attracting investment, and supporting economic growth under Shinde's leadership​.

Though he faced some criticism over his 2019 handling of the Maha political crisis, his early lead shows that Fadnavis still has a stronghold among the people in his constituency.

While Exit Polls for the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections had shown mixed projections, with most pollsters predicting an edge for the Mahayuti alliance (BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar's NCP), the faction has come out strong opening with 39 leads at 8:30am as compared to the MVA’s seven.

Earlier, polls had estimated that Mahayuti would secure 119 to 186 seats. Maha Vikas Aghadi (Congress, NCP's Sharad Pawar faction, and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena) is projected to secure 69 to 155 seats. Others may capture 2 to 29 seats. Vote counting is underway.

For the Maharashtra assembly elections 2024, there are several key battles to watch out for. One of them is the battle for the Aheri seat.

Sitting Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator Dharamraobaba Aatram Bhagwantrao, representing the Ajit Pawar faction is up against his daughter Bhagyashree Dharamraobaba Aatram, who is contesting from the rival NCP faction led by Sharad Pawar, 

Aheri, located in the tribal-majority Gadchiroli district, is a Scheduled Tribe (ST) constituency known for its cultural and religious diversity. 

The counting of votes is now underway! The results of the Maharashtra state elections will be declared by ECI today for all 288 assembly constituencies and the Nanded Lok Sabha seat.

Sharad Pawar's grandnephew Yugendra Pawar will be challenging Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar for the Baramati seat. The competition is expected to be a tough one due to Ajit Pawar's stronghold in the constituency. The NCP leader has held the Baramati seat for seven consecutive years since 1991 and is now seeking an eighth term.

Yugendra Pawar, however, has been backed by Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule as they hope for a win for the SP faction.

For the Maharashtra assembly polls 2024, the key battle is between the BJP-led Mahayuti and the Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar's NCP.

The Mahayuti alliance has stated that if they win and secure a fresh five years as the state government, incumbent Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will be sworn in as the next CM.

However, if MVA wins, the Congress-led alliance has stated that the chief ministerial candidate will be jointly decided by the alliance and then announced.

In Kopri-Pachpakhadi, its a Sena vs Sena battle.

Incumbent Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is up against the nephew of his political mentor - Kedar Dighe. 

During his political career, Shinde has cited Anand Dighe as a "guiding figure". With the contest against his nephew, Shinde is expected to maintain his stronghold in the Thane seat.

Eknath Shinde was elected in 2004 and since then has won three consecutive terms in the restructured constituency.

Read more on the battle for Kopri-Pachpakhadi here

Along with the Maharashtra assembly polls, the elections for Nanded Lok Sabha seats were also held. The by-poll was held after the parliamentary seat was following Congress MP Vasantrao Chavan's death.

In the key district, the battle is now between the BJP and Congress. From Congress - Ravindra Chavan, Vasantrao’s son is contesting for the seat and from the BJP - Santuk Hambarde, the party's district president is running.

This is the first time in 25 years that the Lok Sabha by-poll and the assembly election were held simultaneously in Nanded. The result for the Lok Sabha seat will also be declared by the Election Commission on Saturday.

One of the key constituencies in Maharashtra is Worli where Aaditya Thackeray (Shiv Sena UBT), Milind Deora (Shinde Sena) and Sandeep Deshpande (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) are contesting for the high-profile assembly seat in Mumbai.

In Worli, Aaditya Thackeray made a historic debut with 89.248 votes. The Shiv Sena candidate gained recognition for his hands-on work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Up against Thackeray is Milind Deora, former MP from South Mumbai. Deora is banking on votes from the urban middle-class voters. Sandeep Deshpande from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is also in the running.

While the voter base for Deshpande is small, the MNS Leader is known for his focus on local issues such as housing and infrastructure.

For the 2024 elections, Shiv Sena led by incumbent CM Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar’s NCP has formed an alliance with the national party BJP to form the Mahayuti alliance. The Mahayuti alliance came to power following the 2022 split of Shiv Sena.

Opposing the Mahayuti alliance is the Maha Vikas Aghadi which comprises Sharad Pawar’s NCP and Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray. These two factions have further teamed up with the Indian National Congress for the 2024 polls.

With 288 seats at stake, the winning party or alliance needs a total of 145 seats to secure the majority and stake their claim to form the new government.

For the 2024 elections, a total of 4,140 candidates are in the fray, including incumbent Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Congress' Nana Patole, Shiv Sena UBT's Aaditya Thackeray and many more. Here is a look at the key candidates in the fray –

• Devendra Fadnavis, BJP, Nagpur South West

• Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena (Shinde), Kopari-Pachpakhadi

• Ajit Pawar NCP (Ajit Pawar) and Yugendra Pawar (NCP Sharad Pawar), Baramati constituency

• Aditya Thackeray Shiv Sena (UBT) and Milind Deora (Shiv Sena Shinde), Worli constituency

• Nawab Mallik, NCP, Anushakti Nagar

• Abdul Sattar, Shiv Sena (Shinde), Sillod Assembly seat in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar district

• Amit Deshmukh, Congress, Latur

• Chandrashekhar Bawankule, BJP State President, Kamthi constituency, Nagpur

• Nitesh Rane, BJP, Kankavali constituency

• Balasaheb Thorat, Congress, Sangamner constituency

• Nana Patole, Congress State President, Sakoli constituency

• Sudhir Mungantiwar, BJP, Ballarpur constituency

• Rohit Pawar (NCP Sharad Pawar), Karjat-Jamkhed constituency

Maharashtra recorded a voter turnout of 65.11 percent for the 2024 assembly elections. While the turnout may seem low for a state with 9.7 crore eligible voters, this number stands as Maharashtra's highest turnout since 1995.

Nearly 30 years ago, Maharashtra recorded a voter turnout of 71.7 percent during the 1995 assembly elections. Since then, the turnout has been on a decline in the western state.

However, with the 2024 polls, which came after five years of political turmoil and splits, Maharashtra stepped out and voted.

The 2024 voter turnout has also surpassed the Lok Sabha turnout of June 2024 which stood at 61.39 percent. Read the full story here

After a single-day of polling across 288 assembly constituencies, the Election Commission of India will be declaring the results of the Maharashtra assembly elections today. The counting of votes is set to begin from 8 AM onwards.