Maharashtra to have BJP CM, says Rudy

Reiterating that the mandate given by the people of Maharashtra in the assembly polls was in favour of his party, BJP's Maharashtra in-charge Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Sunday strongly asserted that the state will have a Chief Minister from the BJP itself.

Rudy welcomed the mandate given by the people and said it is a respectable win for the BJP in Maharashtra.

"If you recall, in Maharashtra we used to contest only 119 seats in last 20 years. Today, we have won and we are heading to win more than 120 seats which in itself is a great achievement for Maharashtra BJP," he told ANI here.

"But having said that I would like to reiterate that the mandate is in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra and BJP will form a government in Maharashtra. The decision would be taken by the Parliamentary board in consultation with the state leadership and I am sure we will come up to the expectations of the people and Maharashtra will have a BJP Chief Minister," he added.

In Maharashtra, counting for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly is in progress, and as per early trends, the BJP has stolen a march, winning 20 seats so far and leading in 101, as against the Congress, which is leading in 26 seats and has won 16.

The BJP's former ally, Shiv Sena, has won 16 seats, and is leading in 40 seats, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is ahead in 35 seats. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has won one seat, while the others are reportedly leading in 16 seats.