Mahayuti, Opposition trade barbs on 'fraud' exit polls
The Maharashtra Assembly election, which ended with a single-phase poll on Wednesday, has sparked a bitter war of words between the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) over exit polls. An analysis of nine exit polls by NDTV reveals mixed predictions: five expect a Mahayuti win, three indicate no clear edge for either side, and one predicts an outright MVA win.
Alliances claim victory amid exit poll controversy
Despite exit polls having been proven wrong in the past, both Mahayuti alliance and MVA are confidently claiming victory. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis pointed to an increased voter turnout of 65% as opposed to 61.74% in 2019, as a sign of support for the incumbent government. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut dismissed exit polls as "fraud" and was confident of an MVA win.
Exit polls suggest varied seat distribution
The Maharashtra Assembly has 288 seats and a majority of 145 seats is needed to form the government. An average of exit polls indicates Mahayuti could win around 150 seats while MVA may get around 125. However, Electoral Edge predicts a different picture with 150 seats for MVA and 118 for Mahayuti. The real picture will be known on Saturday when vote counting ends.
Other exit polls predict varied outcomes for Mahayuti
Other exit polls have also made varied predictions for the Mahayuti alliance. Matrize and Peoples Pulse foresee a Mahayuti win with up to 195 seats, P-Marq predicts a narrower victory for Mahayuti with 147 seats, ABP News-Matrize estimates Mahayuti winning between 150-170 seats. People's Pulse gives them up to 182 seats, Times Now-JVC predicts up to 167 seats for Mahayuti, while Lokshahi - Rudra suggests a close contest with Mahayuti getting up to 142 seats.
2019 elections saw BJP-Sena alliance win
In the 2019 elections, the BJP-Sena alliance won but later fell apart over power-sharing disagreements. Uddhav Thackeray then formed an alliance with Congress and NCP to govern until infighting saw Eknath Shinde's faction joining hands with BJP. The new government was formed by Chief Minister Shinde and his deputy Ajit Pawar, who had also broken away from the MVA.
