"What Maharashtra does, the nation will follow," BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde jotted on X following the Mahayuti coalition swept the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 on Saturday.
ALSO READ | Maharashtra Assembly polls: 5 reasons that led to MVA's humiliating defeat
"The opposition's strategy of dividing people has been completely rejected by the Maharashtra of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj, Jtotiba and Savitribai Phule and Ambedkarji. I believe the people in the nation will also follow similar steps in this direction," Vinod Tawde added after his party's alliance retained power in Maharashtra, maintaining sway over 230 of the 288 assembly seats.
Tawde found himself at the center of a political storm after being accused of a cash-for-votes incident in Maharashtra. He was accused of distributing Rs 5 crore to woo voters inside a hotel room on November 19 in Palghar.
However, the former Maharashtra minister claimed innocence after some videos started doing rounds on the interent, saying the alleged amount was not recovered in the probe by the Election Commission and police. He had also demanded an apology from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for making "false and baseless" allegations against him. He had also served a Rs 100 cr defamation notice against the Congress duo. While Rahul Gandhi questioned the origins of the Rs 5 crore, Kharge criticized using money and muscle power to influence the poll outcome in Maharashtra.
Talking to reporters after it was confirmed that the BJP-led Mahayuti was retaining power in the state, Vinod Tawde had said "Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar worked together and gained people's trust. Sharad Pawar broke the natural alliance of Shiv Sena and BJP. Balasaheb Thackeray's voters were angry due to it."
Launching a veiled attack on Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, Tawde added, "Every day, someone from Bhandup used to pollute the state's politics." Raut is a resident of the Bhandup area.
ALSO READ | BJP-led Mahayuti sweeps Maharashtra polls; INDIA bloc retains Jharkhand
The counting of votes in the Maharashtra assembly elections began at 8 am Saturday, with all eyes on the outcome of the battle between the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti coalition and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.
Maharashtra Assembly polls 2024
The final turnout in the polls, held on November 20, was 66.05 per cent, up from 61.1 per cent in 2019. In the Mahayuti, the BJP contested 149 seats, Shiv Sena 81, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP fielded candidates in 59 constituencies. In the MVA combine, the Congress fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and NCP (SP) put up 86 candidates.
The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance on Saturday retained power in Maharashtra, maintaining sway over 230 of the 288 assembly seats, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi's dream of wresting power fizzled, with the opposition combine ahead in just 50 seats. While results have been declared in 164 seats, counting of votes, which began at 8 am, is still in progress in the remaining 124 seats, election officials said. After the certainty of the poll outcome, the focus has now shifted to BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, the architect of his party's stunning victory.
Political circles are abuzz with reports that the state's second Brahmin to become the CM will don the post for the third time. There is already speculation that the swearing in of the new CM may take place as early as Monday and that too in the same venue, the sprawling Wankhede Stadium in south Mumbai, where Fadnavis was sworn in as the CM 10 years ago.
