Maharashtra Election Result 2024: Who is winning and who is trailing?

Maharashtra Lok Sabha Election Result 2024: In the high-stakes battle for Maharashtra, the results are starting to come in, revealing who is leading and who is falling behind

Maharashtra is at the centre of a heated contest between the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction) and the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance as the 2024 Lok Sabha election progresses. The election covers 48 constituencies in Maharashtra, the second-highest number after Uttar Pradesh.

Voting in Maharashtra took place in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, and May 20. The vote counting is currently underway, alongside other states.

Key candidates in the fray include two Union Ministers from the BJP: Piyush Goyal contesting from Mumbai-North and Nitin Gadkari from Nagpur. Other notable candidates are Congress’ Varsha Gaikwad from Mumbai North Central, BJP’s Pankaja Munde from Beed, and Supriya Sule, daughter of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, from Baramati.

In the 2019 general elections, the BJP secured 23 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, while its then-undivided alliance partner Shiv Sena won 18 seats. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won four seats, and the Congress and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) each secured one seat, with one independent candidate also winning a seat.

Also Read: Odisha Assembly polls: BJP challenges Naveen Patnaik's BJD in tight race

Here is a full list of candidates who are leading and trailing in the Lok Sabha polls from Maharashtra:


 

 

Political shifts in Maharashtra since 2014

Since 2014, Maharashtra's political landscape has undergone significant transformations. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came to power in 2014, and in the 2019 general elections, the BJP and Shiv Sena (undivided at the time) maintained strong performances. However, a major political upheaval occurred in 2022.

Eknath Shinde, a prominent figure in the Shiv Sena, cross-voted in favor of the BJP, leading to his removal from the Shiv Sena legislature party leader position by Uddhav Thackeray. Subsequently, Shinde aligned with the BJP, escalating the political crisis. Shinde then moved the Supreme Court (SC) to challenge the rejection of a no-confidence vote. The Supreme Court mandated that the Uddhav Thackeray government prove its majority to stay in power. Thackeray resigned from the Chief Minister's post following the court's judgment, and Shinde was sworn in as the Chief Minister, with Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.

Ahead of the assembly bypolls in November, the Election Commission (EC) froze the Shiv Sena's traditional ‘bow and arrow’ symbol. The Uddhav Thackeray faction was assigned the ‘mashal’ (burning torch) symbol and the name ‘Shiv Sena - Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’, while the Shinde faction received the symbol of two swords and a shield, and the name ‘Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena’.