The counting of votes for the high-stakes Maharashtra assembly elections began at 8 am today, with all attention on the results. Early trends show the NDA leading in 79 seats, while the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi is ahead in 32 seats.
This is the first assembly election following the split of Shiv Sena and NCP into rival factions led by Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.
In the 288-seat Maharashtra assembly election, the key contest is between the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti alliance—comprising BJP, Shiv Sena, and the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction)—and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction). Most exit polls have predicted a significant win for the Mahayuti alliance, which is aiming to retain power, against the MVA.