A day after Maharashtra saw a high voter turnout for the Assembly elections, Deputy Chief Minister (CM) Devendra Fadnavis said on Thursday that the increase in voting percentage could be attributed to a pro-incumbency factor and showed that “people have accepted and endorsed the present Mahayuti government”.
“Whenever there is an increase in polling, it works to the advantage of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and its alliance partners. This is evident from our past experience,” Fadnavis said, speaking to the media at Nagpur airport.
As elections for 288 constituencies took place in Maharashtra on November 20, the state recorded a voter turnout of 65.02 per cent – the second highest after the 71.7 per cent recorded in the 1995 Assembly elections.
“The government’s flagship project Ladki Bahin Yojana could be crucial to the rise in voting. Booth-level reports have shown that there was an increase in women voters in this election,” Fadnavis said.
Exuding confidence that the Mahayuti – the BJP, Shiv Sena, NCP coalition headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde – would form the government once the results were declared on Saturday, Fadnavis said, “I am sure the results will be in favour of Mahayuti and we will be able to form the government.”
However, Fadnavis refused to discuss who the next chief minister would be if the Mahayuti was voted to power.
“All details regarding the government composition and the CM will be taken collectively by leaders of the three parties in the Mahayuti,” he asserted.
“We will hold a meeting after the poll results and all decisions will be taken through consensus collectively,” he added.
The BJP contested 149 seats in the Assembly elections, the highest by any party, whereas alliance partner Shiv Sena contested 81 seats and the NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar 59 seats.
Meanwhile, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi has convened a meeting on Thursday to review polls and plan its post-poll strategy.
The Congress contested 101 seats, Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray 95, and NCP (SP) 86 seats.
