The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance and its partners have swept Maharashtra.
With the exception of Nanded in the south-eastern part of the State and Satara in the west, the Congress and its alliance partner NCP have been decimated.
There is also apprehension in the Congress that Nanded, won by former CM Ashok Chavan, might be lost over the paid news controversy, as he could soon face disqualification by the Election Commission.
Anti-incumbency also took its toll in Baramati, NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s home turf. Pawar’s daughter and sitting MP Supriya Sule scraped through with just 73,000 votes more than Mahadev Jankar of the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha. In 2009, she had had a lead of 3 lakh votes.
The electoral debacle of the ruling Congress-NCP combine has led to the resignation of key ministers Narayan Rane and Nitin Raut from the State Cabinet. The BJP is also calling for the resignation of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, asking him to take the moral responsibility for the defeat.
In Mumbai too, the Congress witnessed the unexpected routing of Milind Deora and Priya Dutt, by the Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant and the BJP’s Poonam Mahajan, respectively.
With 48 constituencies, Maharashtra went to elections in three phases.