Maharashtra and Jharkhand polls test Modi’s popularity

Millions of people are voting in state elections in politically significant Maharashtra, India’s western industrial hub, and the mineral-rich eastern province of Jharkhand on Wednesday, a test of the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its regional partners.

The ruling Mahayuti is expected to return to power with a clear majority in Maharashtra Assembly elections winning 150-170 seats out of the 288 constituencies with a vote share of 48 per cent, said Matrize Exit Poll on Wednesday.

The findings of the Exit Poll, released after voting ended on Wednesday, said the Maha Vikas Aghadi would end up winning 110-130 seats with a vote share of 42 per cent. The election results will be declared on November 23.

The Exit Poll said that the BJP-Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde)-NCP (Ajit Pawar) combine’s back-to-back victory may see the BJP emerge as the largest party in the House with 89-101 seats with 26 per cent vote share.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA is projected to get a clear majority while the Hemant Soren-led INDIA Bloc alliance is headed for a setback in Jharkhand, said Matrize polling agency in its Exit Poll predictions.

According to the polling agency, BJP and its allies are seen crossing the magical mark on its own while the JMM-led alliance is expected to fare poorly in the 81-member Assembly, the polling for which concluded in two phases - 43 seats on Nov.13 and 38 seats on Nov.20.

As per Matrize Exit Polls, the BJP along with its alliance partners is likely to garner 42-47 seats while the JMM-Congress and RJD combine is likely to settle between 25-30 seats.

Voting proceeded briskly with top political leaders, celebs, commoners and slum-dwellers queuing up to cast their vote all over Maharashtra for the Assembly 2024 elections in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The bigwigs who came out to vote included RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, plus the ruling MahaYuti Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Union Ministers Narayan Rane, Ramdas Athawale, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, and more, all trooping out with their families.

On the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) side, Nationalist Congress Party(SP) President Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena(UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray, Congress state President Nana F. Patole, Jayant R. Patil, Prithviraj Chavan, Ritesh Deshmukh and Genelia, Amit Deshmukh and Dhiraj Deshmukh, along with their families stepped out to cast their votes.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray along with family, son Amit Thackeray who is contesting from the Mahim seat, along with other party leaders cast their votes.

Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan, who will be next seen in ‘King’, was seen at a polling station in the Bandra area of Mumbai on Wednesday. The megastar arrived with his kids Aryan and Suhana in their swanky Maybach.

SRK’s ‘Karan Arjun’ co-star Salman Khan too was seen casting his vote in Bandra. The actor made his first public appearance after he was seen at the mourning of the slain politician Baba Siddique.

Besides, Bharat Ratna and cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar with his family, Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar, Farhan Akhtar, Anupam Kher, Rajkummar Rao, Kushal Badrike, Sonali Kulkarni, and others came out to vote.

Bollywood superstar Ranbir Kapoor, who was last seen in the blockbuster ‘Animal’ was seen casting his vote at a polling booth in Pali Hill in the Bandra area of Mumbai.

Actress Shraddha Kapoor was also seen at a polling station in the Juhu area of Mumbai along with her family.

Actor couple Rakul Preet Singh and Jackky Bhagnani also cast their votes, and showed their inked fingers after casting ballot at a polling booth in Mumbai.

The second and fina phase of voting for 38 seats in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly oncluded on Wednesday with 67.59 per cent voter turnout according to Election Commission data.

In the first phase, held on Nov.13 across 43 seats, voter turnout was recorded at 66.65 per cent.

The highest turnout in the final phase of elections was recorded in the Maheshpur constituency in Santhal Pargana at 79.40 per cent.

Indo-Asian News service