Maharashtra civic poll results today; recap of exit poll results
What's the story
The counting of votes for the elections to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra will begin on Friday at 10:00am. The key contests are in Mumbai and Pune, where the Thackeray cousins, Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), have reunited to reclaim the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). In pune, the reunited uncle and nephew, Sharad and Ajit Pawar of NCP factions, are hoping to defend the city.
Poll predictions
BJP-Shiv Sena alliance leads in exit polls
The BMC elections were held after a four-year delay, with 1,700 candidates contesting for 227 seats. Exit polls have predicted a massive win for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena alliance in these BMC elections. An aggregate of six exit polls predicts the alliance to win around 132 seats while the Shiv Sena UBT and allies may secure 63 seats and Congress could get 20 seats.
Pune contest
Pune's municipal elections also under scrutiny
For Pune, exit polls indicate that the BJP will emerge as the largest party in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) polls, winning around 70 out of 165 seats. Exit polls also predicted that the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS are likely to receive 49% of the Maratha vote, the BJP 30%, and the Congress 8%. The Congress is expected to receive approximately 41% of Muslim votes, with Uddhav's Shiv Sena coming in second at 28%.
Election details
Voter turnout and eligible voters in Maharashtra
Polling for these elections was held on Thursday across 2,869 seats in 893 wards. A total of 3.48 crore voters were eligible to vote in this election, which will decide the fate of 15,931 candidates across various municipal corporations. Apart from Mumbai and Pune, other corporations where votes are being counted include Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Nashik and Thane, among others.