Comments
The Congress-NCP is facing a virtual rout in Maharashtra, which has 48 Lok Sabha seats, with the BJP-led NDA alliance close to winning 41 seats while the UPA alliance, led by the Congress, managing only six.
An independent candidate is leading in one seat.
The day started with the BJP leading in 20 seats, followed by its Hindutva ally Shiv Sena at 17. On the other hand, the Congress was only ahead in six seats and the NCP in five. NCP’s Supriya Sule won in Baramati, while BJP’s Pune strongman Girish Bapat was leading by 15,000 votes. But as the day passed and the counting machines started pinging it was clear that the BJP combine was winning the game.
NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar said that the verdict of the people should be accepted gracefully. He went on to say that this time too NCP lost in the same seats it did in 2014 .
In the prestigious Baramati seat, which has always been won by NCP’s Sharad Pawar family, the tradition continued with Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule winning the seat with 6,79,803 votes.
The runner up was BJP candidate, Kanchan Kool, who received 5,26,979 votes, losing by a 1.5 lakh margin. However for Kool to get over five lakh votes in the NCP stronghold is a significant milestone. The data mentioned in this report is as on 8:30 PM on Thursday.
Urmila trailing
In the North Mumbai bell weather seat, cine star Urmila Matondkar, who is fighting on a Congress ticket, was trailing behind BJP’s Gopal Shetty by a massive 4.46 lakh votes.
Spokesperson of Shiv Sena Sanjay Raut said the country has been overwhelmed by Modi’s charm.
It is a bigger victory than in 2014 and the opposition stands decimated.
People have rejected opposition parties and Modi will take the country ahead, he added.
On the other hand, senior NCP leader Chagan Bhujbal attributed the victory neither to Modi nor the BJP but to the voting machines. He alleged that while Western countries have rejected voting machines India continues to use them, which have been tampered with in this election.
From wave to tsunami
Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra and star campaigner of the BJP, said that in the 2014 election, there was a Modi wave. But today it has turned into a Tsunami.
This trend has also added responsibilities for the NDA. The thumping mandate will give us sleepless nights as there are several matters to be addressed in Maharashtra.
But people have still put their trust in PM Modi, he said.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.