BJP-Led Mahayuti Sweeps Maharashtra Legislative Council Polls With 9 Out Of 11 Seats, MVA Scores 2

The Mahayuti coalition won all nine contested seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Council election, while the Congress and Shiv Sena UBT secured one each.

The ruling Mahayuti alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra clinched all nine seats it contested in the biennial elections to 11 seats for the state legislative council on Friday. The results, declared in the evening, highlighted the BJP's dominance, with the party winning five seats, while the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP each secured two seats.

From the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Milind Narvekar, a close aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, and Congress candidate Pradnya Satav emerged victorious. However, Jayant Patil of the Peasants and Workers' Party (PWP), supported by Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP), failed to win a seat.

The election was necessitated as 11 members of the legislative council (MLCs) are set to complete their six-year terms on July 27. The electoral college for these polls was the 288-member legislative assembly, which currently has 274 members. Each winning candidate required a quota of 23 first-preference votes.

The BJP fielded former Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde, Yogesh Tilekar, Parinay Phuke, Amit Gorkhe, and Sadabhau Khot, all of whom secured victories. Shiv Sena's candidates, former Lok Sabha MPs Krupal Tumane and Bhavana Gawali, also won. The NCP's Shivajirao Garje and Rajesh Vitekar completed the winning list for the alliance. Congress nominated Satav for another term, and Shiv Sena (UBT) fielded Narvekar. The NCP (SP) did not field a candidate, instead extending support to PWP's Jayant Patil, who lost.

For Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, the victory brought a wave of relief following setbacks in the Lok Sabha elections. The NCP's two candidates, Shivajirao Garje and Rajesh Vitekar, secured 24 and 23 votes, respectively. Expressing his happiness, Ajit Pawar stated, "In the Legislative Council elections, we had 42 votes and received 47, gaining five extra votes. We are grateful to those who supported us."

Pawar also praised the loyalty and support of his legislators, noting, "Our legislators are trustworthy, and they have shown their confidence that they will address the people's issues."

The current ruling coalition in Maharashtra includes the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

BJP Chief JP Nadda Celebrates 'Landslide Victory' In Maharashtra MLC Election

BJP chief JP Nadda took to X (formerly Twitter) to celebrate the triumph. "Heartiest congratulations to all the leaders of the NDA for registering this landslide victory in the Maharashtra MLC election. I'm certain that under the guidance of Hon'ble PM Shri Narendra Modi ji, you all will contribute significantly to nation-building. Your experience in public service will accelerate our efforts towards advancing both the state and the nation towards the envisioned 'Viksit Maharashtra' and 'Viksit Bharat'."

Speaking to the media, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde remarked, "We had confidence that our 9 candidates will win...Chamatkar hua hai..Not only Mahayuti MLAs voted for us but people of other parties also supported us based on development work done by us."

Maharashtra Minister and BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar also expressed his satisfaction, stating, "All nine Mahayuti candidates were elected. We are very happy. MVA's arrogance has been wiped off..."

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