MahaYuti to lose some, MVA to gain few, predicts Marathi channel Exit Poll

Mumbai, June 1 (IANS) The ruling MahaYuti alliance in Maharashtra could face some losses while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi-INDIA bloc may gain a few seats in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections, as per the Exit Poll telecast by a Marathi television channel, Pudhari, on Saturday.

Of the 48 LS constituencies in the state, the Exit Polls gave the MahaYuti alliance of Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP 32 seats, and 15 seats to the Maha Vikas Aghadi-INDIA bloc of Congress-Shiv Sena (UBT)-NCP (Sharad Pawar), while an Independent candidate is projected to win one seat.

The projected outcomes indicate that neither the MahaYuti nor the MVA would be able to achieve their lofty targets of 45-plus and 38-plus LS seats, respectively.

The clear winning seats for the BJP are 17: Nandurbar, Dhule, Raver, Jalgaon, Mumbai North, Mumbai North East, Pune, Solapur, Nagpur, Bhandara-Gondiya, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Wardha, Nanded, Beed, Palghar, Akola and Jalna.

However, the BJP will face a tough fight in Bhiwandi, Mumbai North Central, Amravati, Satara, and Ahmednagar LS seats, and if it squeezes through, it could bag 22 LS seats in the state.

Shiv Sena is set to bag Kalyan, Thane, Maval, Shirdi, Rmtek, Buldhana, Hatkanangale and Mumbai South Central, while NCP is projected to emerge victorious in Raigad and Baramati.

Among the prominent likely MahYuti winners are Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s son Shrikant E. Shinde (Thane), Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar (Baramati) and BJP’s Nitin Gadkari (Nagpur).

For the opposition MVA partners, the Congress is likely to win in Kolhapur, Latur, Gadchiroli; NCP (SP) in Dindori and Madha; and SS (UBT) in Mumbai South, Nashik, Aurangabad, Osmanabad, Parbhani, and Hingoli.

The MVA will have an uphill climb in Chandrapur (Congress), Shirur (NCP-SP), and SS (UBT) in Mumbai North West and Yavatmal-Washim, and in case they surmount the challenges, their combined tally could touch 15 seats, as per the Pudhari Exit Polls.

The major potential MVA winners include Chhatrapati Shrimant Shahu Maharaj (Kolhapur), Bhaskar Bagare (Dindori), Chandrakant Khaire (Aurangabad), and a Congress rebel who contested as an Independent, Vishal P. Patil (Sangli).

–IANS

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