Maharashtra election results: BJP steamrolls Congress 65-10 in 75 direct Maharashtra contests | India News – Times of India

NAGPUR: While the election battle was primarily a battle between Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi, it was the head-to-head battles between the BJP and Congress in 75 constituencies that decided the larger outcome. The BJP emerged victorious with 65 seats, leaving Congress with just 10 seats.
In the parliamentary elections, months after the Lok Sabha polls, in which the Congress made an impressive comeback, winning 17 of the 48 seats – its best performance in a decade – the BJP made a stunning recovery. It won 132 of the 288 seats, the highest ever in Maharashtra, surpassing previous records of 122 in 2014 and 105 in 2019. The Congress slumped to its worst ever performance, winning just 15, a sharp decline from 44 in 2019 and 42. in 2014.

The BJP’s triumph can be attributed to a coordinated campaign in which the state and the central government worked together. While Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and state unit chief Chandrashekar Bawankule worked in different regions and extended support to each candidate, veteran campaigners like Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari and Yogi Adityanath provided the necessary impetus to counter the anti-incumbency to go.
RSS played a key role in mobilizing grassroots support through an extensive campaign with over 60,000 rallies across the state. This effort helped consolidate votes and neutralize the opposition’s caste-based strategies. The BJP also benefited from its well-organized campaign mechanism, which ensured effective candidate selection, voter outreach and seamless coordination with allies.

The Congress campaign was marred by infighting, lack of grassroots mobilization and inability to put forward a credible leadership figure. Even veterans like Balasaheb Thorat and Prithviraj Chavan lost their seats. Of the 75 clashes with the BJP, the Congress managed to win only 10 seats, mostly in areas with significant minority populations or where local netas had a stronghold. There are no more MLAs in the Konkan region; in northern Maharashtra, western Maharashtra and Marathwada it now has one each. State Congress chief Nana Patole himself narrowly managed to retain his Sakoli seat, winning by a margin of 208 votes.