Maharashtra assembly polls live: BJP-Sena on course to retain power in Maharashtra; Haryana headed for hung assembly

6 p.m

The BJP-Shiv Sena coalition was Thursday on course to retain power albeit with a reduced majority in Maharashtra where the opposition Congress-NCP alliance put up a good show while BJP-ruled Haryana appeared headed for a hung assembly and JJP chief Dushyant Chautala set to become the kingmaker.

In the first Assembly elections after the BJP’s triumph in the Lok Sabha polls in May, the saffron party’s electoral juggernaut met with some resistance in Maharashtra and Haryana with a resurgent Congress performing creditably in the northern state. The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) was set to emerge as the single largest party in Haryana followed by the Congress.

The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) not only improved its performance in Maharashtra but fared even better than senior partner Congress by contesting lesser number of seats.

Congress leads in 31 seats, BJP leads in 40 seats in Haryana

In Haryana, the Congress, which failed to bag even one seat in the Lok Sabha polls, won or was ahead in 31 of the 90 seats at stake compared to its previous tally of 15. The BJP, which had 47 seats in the outgoing 90-member house, won or was ahead in 40 seats. The half-way mark is 46.

All eyes were on the fledgling Jannayak Janta Party(JJP) which was floated last year by Dushyant Chautala, a former MP from Hisar, after a vertical split in the once powerful INLD following a family feud in the Chautala clan.

Dushyant remained non-committal on whether his party would support the BJP or the Congress in forming a government in the event of a hung assembly. The JJP won 9 seats and was leading in one.

As Haryana headed for a hung assembly as per the latest trends, the BJP high command is understood to have summoned Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to Delhi.The BJP had set a target of winning 75 seats.

As per the results and trends available in Maharashtra, the BJP’s tally in the 288-member Assembly was 99 while it was 57 for the Sena. In the 2014 polls, the BJP and the Sena won 122 and 63 seats respectively. They had then contested separately. The Sena joined the Fadnavis-led government over a month after it was formed.

NCP won or was ahead in 55 while the Congress’ tally was 44. The NCP and the Congress bagged 41 and 42 seats in the outgoing house.

With trends in Maharashtra showing the BJP falling short of the halfway-mark on its own, its ally and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said it was time to implement “fifty-fifty” formula for power-sharing, decided on earlier.

“Maharashtra mandate is an eye-opener for many,” Thackeray told reporters in Mumbai.

6 p.m

BJP’S Alavani wins the Vile Parle seat by 58,427 votes

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Parag Alavani has won from the Vile Parle constituency by a margin of 58427 votes, defeating the Congress’ Jayanti Siroya.

Alavani garnered 84991 votes, leaving the Congress’ Siroya trailing behind with 26564 votes. 

Vile Parle  is an Assembly seat in Mumbai-Thane region and Mumbai Suburban district of Maharashtra and is part of Mumbai North-Central Lok Sabha constituency.

In the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the BJP’s Alavani had won from this seat by defeating the Shiv Sena candidate by a margin of 32435 votes. 

In the 2009 assembly elections, Krishna Hegde of Congress had won from this seat by defeating the Sena candidate by a margin of 1704 votes

5.45 pm

BJP’s Narwekar wins the Colaba constituency by 16,195 votes

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Rahul Narwekar has won from the Colaba constituency of Maharashtra by a vote margin of 16195 votes, defeating the Indian National Congress’ Ashok Jagtap.

Narvekar garnered 57420 votes, while Jagtap secured 41225 votes.

Narvekar, an NCP turncoat, had replaced the sitting MLA Raj K. Purohit. Colaba is an assembly seat in the Mumbai-Thane region and Mumbai City district of Maharashtra and is part of Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency.

In the last assembly elections, the seat was won by the BJP’s Purohit by a margin of 23787 votes. Raj K.Purohit defeated SHS candidate Pandurang Ganpat Sakpal.

5.45 pm

Congress’ Zeeshan Siddique wins the Vandre East seat by 5,790 votes

Congress’ Zeeshan Siddique has won from the Vandre East constituency by a margin of 5,790 votes, over the Shiv Sena’s Vishwanath Mahadeshwar.

Siddique garnered 38,337 votes, as against the 32,547 votes secured by Mahadeshawar.

Vandre East (Bandra East), is an Assembly seat in Mumbai-Thane region and Mumbai Suburban district of Maharashtra and is part of Mumbai North-Central Lok Sabha constituency.

At 27, Zeeshan Siddique, who is the son of former MLA and Congress leader Baba Siddique,  is one of the youngest leaders to contest this year's assembly elections. He is currently the 1st General Secretary of Mumbai Pradesh Youth Congress. 

In the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Prakash (Bala) Sawant of the Shiv Sena had won from this seat by defeating the BJP candidate by a margin of 15597 votes.

In the 2009 assembly elections, Prakash (Bala) Vasant Sawant of the Sena had won from this seat by defeating the Congress’  candidate by a margin of 7420 votes. 

5.40 pm

BVA leading in Nalasopara by a margin of 43,815 votes, Shiv Sena trailing behind

The Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi party’s Kshitij Thakur is leading in the Nalasopara constituency by a  margin of 43,815 votes, leaving the Shiv Sena party’s Pradeep Sharma  trailing behind, as of IST 05:36 PM.

Nalasopara is an Assembly seat in the Mumbai-Thane region and Palghar district of Maharashtra and is part of Palghar Lok Sabha constituency.

In the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Thakur had won this seat by a margin of 54,499 votes. Thakur had also won this seat in the 2009 Maharashtra Assembly elections, defeating the Shiv Sena candidate by a margin of 40,782 votes. 

The two-term MLA Thakur is contesting against cop-turned-Shiv Sena candidate Sharma, who joined the party just days before the candidate names were announced. An encounter specialist, he had quit the force as a senior police inspector last month.

4.25 pm

Aaditya Thackeray wins in Worli, defeats NCP nominee by over 70,000 votes

Mumbai, Oct 24  Making his political debut, Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday won from the Worli Assembly constituency in Mumbai, an election official said.

The 29-year-old Yuva Sena chief, who is the first member from Thackeray family to contest an election, defeated his NCP rival Suresh Mane by a margin of over 70,000 votes.

In the run up to the polls, Aaditya Thackeray held several roadshows, foot marches and raised issues like cutting of trees in Aarey Colony and Mumbai’s nightlife.

The young Sena leader, during his campaigns, said he wants to make his constituency a “model of development“.

He had also reached out to non-Marathi voters in the constituency.

4.15 pm

BJP candidate wins Balha seat

Bahraich (UP): BJP’s Saroj Sonekar on Thursday won the Balha (R) Assembly seat by defeating Samajwadi Party candidate Kiran Bharti Sonekar won by a margin of 46,487 votes.

The BJP has retained the seat

4.10 pm

Maharashtra Assembly poll vote share

3:45 pm

Prithviraj Chavan wins from Karad with margin of 11,000 votes

Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan has managed to retain his Karad South constituency, beating his closest rival Dr. Atulbaba Suresh Bhosal of the BJP by 11,148 votes. 

Chavan, a former chief minister of Maharashtra, is one of the most prominent Congress leaders in the state.  The 73-year-old politician won the seat by a margin of more than 16,000 votes in the last elections. Despite the win, Chavan said he was upset with the party's performance. 

"‘I am happy about my result, but not happy about my party’s result," Chavan said. "BJP has done very badly (in the state). At least 15-16 people were imported in the last three months from the Congress/NCP to the BJP," Chavan said, indicating that the BJP's performance was poor despite roping in big Congress leaders. He added that talks were on with the NCP and other allies, but refused to give further details.

"There are interesting possibilities for government formation. There are possibilities to stop the BJP in Haryana as well," Chavan said.  Chavan has previously served as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.  He was also the general secretary of the All-India Congress Committee and in-charge of many states including Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat, Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh.

3:35 pm

People have rejected 'arrogance of power': Pawar

With trends suggesting that the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is falling well short of its target of winning 220 assembly seats in Maharashtra, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday said the message was that people did not like “the arrogance of power".

The people, however, have asked the Nationalist Congress Party to remain in the opposition, Pawar added, stating that it will not try to form the government.

“People have not accepted the talk of 220 seats (out of 288). The NCP accepts the people’s mandate humbly. The Congress, NCP, PWP, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana and other allies whole-heartedly co-operated with each other. The election results show people did not like the arrogance of power,” Pawar said.

Without naming leaders of the ruling parties, Pawar also observed “some people crossed the limit while holding extreme views".

“People have asked us to sit in the opposition. The thought of trying to get into power doesn’t even cross our minds. We will work to expand our base,” he further said.

Pawar also noted that those who deserted the opposition camp to join the ruling parties were not accepted by the people.

“People did not like their act of expediency ahead of the election,” he added.

Without naming ex-NCP MP from Satara, Udayanraje Bhosale, who was trailing behind the NCP candidate in the Satara Lok Sabha byelection, Pawar said people did not like Bhosale’s decision to join the BJP.

Newly-elected NCP MLAs will meet after Diwali to discuss the future course of action, he said.

“The NCP and allies will also meet after Diwali to discuss the future course of action,” Pawar said, replying to a question about who will get the post of leader of the opposition.

3:25 pm

Pankaja Munde concedes defeat

BJP leader and Maharashtra cabinet minister Pankaja Munde on Thursday accepted her defeat from Parli assembly seat at the hands of her cousin and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde.

The result of the Parli seat has not been declared yet, but Pankaja was trailing Dhananjay Munde by almost 30,000 votes.

“I worked for the constituency. Though I was in the government, my struggle for my constituency and people continued. I take responsibility for this defeat,” she said.

Party positions at 3:15 pm 

1:31 pm

The Congress’ Zeeshan Siddique is ahead of his Shiv Sena rival, Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, by a margin of 4,285 votes.

The Vandre East (Bandra East) Assembly seat in the Mumbai-Thane region and Mumbai Suburban district of Maharashtra, is part of the Mumbai North-Central Lok Sabha constituency.

1:28 pm

The BJP’s Parag Alavani is ahead of the Congress’ Jayanti Siroya by a margin of 21,333 votes in Vile Parle constituency. Vile Parle  is an Assembly/Vidhan Sabha seat in Mumbai-Thane region and the Mumbai Suburban district of Maharashtra and is part of the Mumbai North-Central Lok Sabha constituency.

1:25 pm

The BJP’s Rahul Narwekar is ahead of his rival, the Congress’ Ashok Jagtap, by 12,788  votes in Colaba assembly seat, which is part of the Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency.

1:22 pm

In Nalasopara constituency, the Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi’s Kshitij Thakur is ahead of the Shiv Sena’s Pradeep Sharma by a margin of 28,350 votes.

1:18 pm

The Shiv Sena's Aditya Thackeray has extended his lead over NCP's Suresh Mane by 42,691 votes in Worli constituency.

1 pm

In the Maharashtra assembly polls, the people's vote has once again gone to the ruling BJP, Shiv Sena and its allies. The right wing coalition is leading in 165 seats. The Congress-NCP alliance has yet to cross the 100-seat mark; it is leading in 94 currently. Independent candidates have managed to get a lead in 29 seats.

The independent candidates, who are rebels from both alliances, seem to have played spoil sport, as they have made a noticeable dent in the numbers.

Among the notable performances is that of the BJP's Nitesh Rane from Kankavali constituency in the Konkan region, with a margin of over 20,000. Nitesh Rane is son of Konkan strongman, Narayan Rane, who started his political career as a Shiv Sena supporter. He was even made Chief Minister of Maharashtra by Bal Thackeray in the late 1990s, but later switched sides to join the Congress.

He did not survive long in the Congress due to his overt political ambitions. Finally, he jumped ship to join the BJP.

The other significant lead is that of Rohit Pawar, who is the grand nephew of NCP leader Sharad Pawar. He is fighting from Karjat-Jamkhed constituency in Ahmednagar. In Worli, central Mumbai, Aaditya Thackeray of Shiv Sena has also taken a healthy lead.

With counting still underway, a clear picture is expected to emerge by 4 pm.

12:30 pm

In Dhule city, in a contest between two independents, Anil Anna Gote, a former BJP MLA, is ahead of Rajwardhan Raghujirao Kadambande by 4,316 votes. In the 2014 Assembly polls, Gote won on a BJP ticket. He was not given a ticket from the party this time around due to a pre-poll alliance with the Shiv Sena. Gote, along with the opposition Congress, NCP and some other parties, have raised questions about the functioning of electronic voting machines, alleging that they were tampered with at some places. Gote said he spent the night on a vigil outside the EVM strong rooms in Dhule. Congress had also raised a demand for installing mobile phone jammers outside the strong rooms, which was refused by the Election Commission.

12:22 pm

The BJP’s Parag Alavani is leading from Vile Parle constituency by a margin of 7,516 votes, over the Congress’ Jayanti Siroya.

Vile Parle  is an Assembly/Vidhan Sabha seat in the Mumbai-Thane region and Mumbai Suburban district of Maharashtra and is part of Mumbai North-Central Lok Sabha constituency.

In the 2014 Assembly elections, Alavani had won this seat by defeating the Shiv Sena candidate by a margin of 32,435 votes.

In the 2009 assembly elections, Krishna Hegde of the Congress had won, defeating the Sena candidate by a margin of 1,704 votes.

12:20 pm

In Baramati constituency, sitting MLA Ajit Pawar of the NCP is leading the BJP's Gopichand Kundlik Padalkar by a margin of 1,15,120 votes. In the 2014 assembly elections, Pawar had won the seat by a margin of 89,791 votes.

Prithviraj Chavan

Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan is leading Dr. Atulbaba Suresh Bhosal of the BJP by 3,621 votes in Karad South. He won the seat by a margin of more than 16,000 votes in the last elections.  12:09 pm

The Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi's Kshitij Thakur is leading in Nalasopara constituency by a margin of 16,448 votes, over the Shiv Sena’s Pradeep Sharma.

12:04 pm

The BJP’s Rahul Narwekar is leading the Congress' Ashok Jagtap by a margin of 7,008 votes. Colaba assembly seat falls in the Mumbai-Thane region and Mumbai City district of Maharashtra and is part of the Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency.

The BJP’s  Raj K. Purohit won the seat by a margin of 23, 787 votes in the last assembly elections. Raj K. Purohit defeated SHS candidate Pandurang Ganpat Sakpal. Narvekar, an NCP turncoat, has replaced the sitting MLA Purohit this time.

12 noon

Nalasopara is an Assembly seat in the Mumbai-Thane region and Palghar district of Maharashtra and is part of Palghar Lok Sabha constituency.

In the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Thakur had won this seat by a margin of 54499 votes. Thakur had also won this seat in the 2009 Maharashtra Assembly elections, defeating the Shiv Sena candidate by a margin of 40782 votes. 

The two-term MLA Thakur is contesting against cop-turned-Shiv Sena candidate Sharma, who joined the party just days before the candidate names were announced. An encounter specialist, he had quit the force as a senior police inspector last month.

Dhananjay Munde, an NCP leader, is leading his cousin Pankaja Munde of the BJP by a margin of 18,740 votes from Parli in Beed district.

Pankaja Munde (file photo)

Pankaja, who won the seat with a margin of 25,895 votes in the 2014 assembly elections, is the daughter of late Gopinath Munde, a celebrated BJP leader from Maharashtra.

Munde died in a car accident in Delhi, within a week of taking oath as the fourth minister of the Narendra Modi government's first tenure in 2014. In the same year, Pankaja, became a minister in the Devendra Fadanavis government in Maharashtra.

Jitendra Awhad, the sitting MLA from Mumbra-Kalwa constituency, contesting on a NCP ticket, is leading with a margin of 29,258 votes against Deepali Sayed of Shiv Sena.

11:59 am

The Shiv Sena’s Aditya Thackeray is leading the NCP's Suresh Mane by a margin of 27,006 votes in Worli constituency.

Aditya Thackeray

Worli Assembly constituency is in the Mumbai-Thane region and is under the Mumbai City district. It is part of Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency.

The constituency is one of the most closely watched in the state, with the Shiv Sena fielding the 29-year-old grandson of Bal Thackeray, a founding member of the party, from it.

The NCP’s Suresh Mane is the former head of the Mumbai University’s law department.

Worli is a Shiv Sena bastion, with the party registering consecutive wins from the constituency over five terms, from 1990 to 2004. In 2009 though, the then NCP’s Sachin Ahir defeated Sena’s Ashish Chemburkar, only to give way again to the Sena in 2014. 

11:30 am

In the Malabar Hill constituency, Mangal Prabhat Lodha of the BJP is leading with a margin of 23,484 votes. Heera Navaji Devasi of the Congress is trailing. Lodha, the sitting MLA, won the 2014 assembly elections by a margin of 68,686 votes.

In the Mumbadevi constituency, Amin Patel of the Indian National Congress is leading with a margin of 8,489 votes. Shiv Sena's Pandurang Ganpat Sakpal is trailing. In 2014, Patel had won by a margin of 8,513 votes.

Maharashtra Chief Minister,  D.G. Fadnavis , who is contesting from the Nagpur South West constituency, is leading with a margin of 11,134 votes. Dr. Ashish Deshmukh of the Indian National Congress is trailing. In the assembly election of 2014, Fadnavis had won the seat by a margin of 58,942 votes.

11:05 am

In Airoli constituency, Ganesh Naik of Bharatiya Janata Party is leading with a margin of 13,217 votes against Nilesh Arun Bankhele of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. In the assembly election of 2014, Sandeep Ganesh Naik of the Nationalist Congress Party had won by a margin of 8,725 votes.  Sandeep is Ganesh Naik's son and the sitting MLA from Airoli constituency. Since Ganesh was not given a ticket from Belapur, he is contesting elections from Airoli constituency.

The Maharashta poll results

11:00 am

The results for the Maharashtra State assembly polls have started pouring in with the BJP-Shiv Sena and allies leading in 161 seats, Congress and allies in 95, and others parties in 32 seats.

In Mumbra Kalwa constituency. Jitendra Awhad of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is leading with a margin of 16892 votes. Shiv Sena's Deepali Sayed is trailing. In the State assembly elections of 2014, Awhad of NCP had won by a margin of 47683 votes.

In Indipaur near Pune, former NCP minister, Harshawardhan Patil, who joined the BJP recently, was trailing by 7,000 votes. Indipaur, which has a good agri-tech economic base, has been a fortress of the NCP for many years.

The most controversial fight is at Parli in Beed district where Dhananjay Munde of the NCP is giving a tough fight to his estranged cousin, Pankaja Munde . He is leading by over 13,000 votes, which could spell doom for Pankaja, who is the daughter of the BJP’s founder leader in Maharashtra, Gopinath Munde, who passed away in June 2014.

In Nagpur South West constituency, Chief Minister Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis,  of the BJP is leading with a margin of 5,103 votes. Dr. Ashish Deshmukh, who is contesting the elections from the Congress is trailing. In the assembly elections of 2014, Fadnavis had won the seat by a margin of 58,942 votes.

Currently, the BJP is leading in 97 of the 288 constituencies, followed by Shiv Sena in 64 constituencies.

The Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi party’s Kshitij Thakur is leading in the Nalasopara constituency by a vote margin of 3,643 votes, leaving the Shiv Sena’s Pradeep Sharma trailing, as of IST 10:59 am.

Nalasopara is an Assembly seat in the Mumbai-Thane region and Palghar district of Maharashtra and is part of Palghar Lok Sabha constituency.

In the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Thakur had won this seat by a margin of 54,499 votes. Thakur had also won this seat in the 2009 Maharashtra Assembly elections, defeating the Shiv Sena candidate by a margin of 40782 votes.

In the Colaba constituency, BJP's Rahul Narwekar is leading by a vote margin of 7,599, over the Congress’ Ashok Jagtap. Colaba is an assembly seat in the Mumbai-Thane region, and is part of Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency.

In the last assembly elections, the seat was won by the BJP’s  Raj K Purohit by a margin of 23,787 votes. Purohit defeated SHS candidate Pandurang Ganpat Sakpal.

10:50 am

The results for the Maharashtra State assembly polls have started pouring in. The BJP is leading in 110 seats, its alliance partner Shiv Sena is leading in 74 seats. The Congress is leading in 37, while the NCP is at 49.

The most controversial fight is at Parli in Beed district, where Dhananjay Munde of NCP is giving a tough fight to his estranged cousin Pankaja Munde. He is leading with 6,800 votes. Just before the polling Dhananjay Munde was accused of making controversial remarks against Pankaja Munde, which lead to a police complaint against him.

NCP’s top leader Ajit Pawar is leading with over 50,000 votes in Baramati in Western Maharashtra.  

Former CM Ashok Chavan is leading with 10,000 in Bhokar in Nanded. Nanded has been a traditionally a strong base of the Chavan family. His father late SB Chavan, who was also the Home Minister in Rajiv Gandhi government, also had a massive base in Bhokar.

Shivendrasinh Bhosle, former NCP member and now BJP's candidate for Satara, was leading the vote count in the constituency. He is contesting against NCP's Deepak Sahebrao Pawar. 

In 2014, Bhosle had won the Satara seat on a NCP ticket, lwinning the seat by nearly 48,000 votes. He is widely expected to repeat this victory in this Vidhan Sabha elections. 

Satara is a rural constituency and has an estimated Scheduled Caste population of 7 per cent and a Scheduled Tribe population of about 1 per cent. The district is high on literacy, with estimated literacy level of the district at about 83 per cent.  During the Lok Sabha election this year, Satara had a total of 3,37,660 eligible electors, of which 1,70,310 were male, 1,67,341 female and 9 voters of the third gender. A total of 1,451 service voters had also registered to vote.

10: 40 am

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (Nagpur South) is leading with a margin of 2,570 votes. Congress' Dr. Ashish Deshmukh (Airoli)  is trailing.

Aaditya Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena is leading by 1,1893 votes from the Worli Constituency ahead of NCP's Suresh Mane. Aaditya is the first from the Thackeray family to contest an election and is expected to win here.

BJP's Ganesh Naik is leading with a margin of 8,085 votes. MNS' Nilesh Arun Bankhele is Trailing.

10:30 am

BJP state president Chandrakant Patil leads by more than 6,000 votes over his nearest MNS rival Kishor Shinde in Kothrud Assembly seat of Pune. NCP's Ajit Pawar is ahead of his BJP rival Gopinath Padalkar by 18,000 votes in Baramati seat of Pune. BJP’s Harshvardhan Patil ahead of his NCP opponent Dattatray Bharne by over 900 votes in Pune’s Indapur seat.

10:25 am

The BJP's Chaudhary Ashok is leading by a vote margin of 7,949 votes, over the Congress’ Arun Sawant.

Dahisar is an assembly seat in Mumbai-Thane region, and Mumbai Suburban district of Maharashtra. It is part of Mumbai North Lok Sabha constituency.

In the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Chaudhary Ashok of BJP had won in this seat by a margin of 38,578 votes. 

10:00 am

The BJP has taken the lead in Maharashtra, with its candidates ahead in 21 seats. The Shiv Sena is in front in 13 seats,  the Congress is leading in five, while Sharad Pawra's NCP is doing well in 15 seats. Overall, the BJP has got 31 per cent of the votes counted so far.

9:01 am

Early trends show that the BJP-Shiv Sena combine is ahead in 169 seats and Congress and its allies are ahead in 69 seats. Non-BJP and Congress parties have taken a lead in only 8 places.

In urban areas such as Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur, BJP alliance candidates are ahead.

8:50 am: Congress candidate Bhusara Sunil Chandrakant leading in Vikramgad Assembly segment.

8:15 am: The results of the Maharashtra State assembly elections for 288 seats would be announced today. The counting has commenced and early trends are expected by 10 am.

Very early trends show that the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is ahead in 13 seats, while the Congress and its alliance partners are ahead in five places.

In the state, the average voting percentage was about 55.33 per cent. Most of the exit polls have predicted that the BJP is set to return to power in the state. Polls suggest that the BJP- Shiv Sena combine will win 200/288 seats.

Read the exit poll results here

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