Maharashtra News: Deputy Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Nagpur South-West, Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday asserted that the BJP always gains an advantage whenever there is an increase in voter turnout. I feel that whenever the voting percentage increases, BJP is the only one to benefit from it. With the increased voting percentage, BJP-Mahayuti will benefit from this, Fadnavis told ANI.Congress Gudadhe-Patil will be taking on Deputy CM Fadnavis, in the Nagpur South-West constituencyMeanwhile, the ruling Mahayuti is expected to retain power in Maharashtra with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) also putting up a strong show in assembly polls, exit polls predicted on Wednesday after the conclusion of polling on 288 seats in the state.According to the Republic TV-PMARQ exit poll, the Mahayuti alliance could win 137-157 seats whereas the Maha Vikas Aghadi could get 126-147 seats and others 2-8 seats. Mahayuti includes BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi includes Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP).Matrize exit poll projected 150-170 seats for the Mahayuti alliance and 110-130 seats for Maha Vikas Aghadi. It said others could get 8-10 seats.Chanakya Strategies projected that Mahayuti will win 152-150 seats, MVA 130-138 seats and others 6-8 seats. Peoples Pulse projected Mahayuti scoring a decisive victory by getting 175-195 seats. It said Maha Vikas Aghadi is poised to get 85-112 seats and others winning 7-12 seats. The majority mark in Maharashtra assembly is 145 and the range of Republic TV-PMARQ prediction suggested that even MVA could cross the mark. Maharashtra polled 58.22 per cent votes till 5 pm on Wednesday.The elections saw a keen contest between Mahayuti and MVA. It was the first assembly poll in the state after splits in Shiv Sena and NCP. In the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena secured 56, and the Congress won 44. In 2014, the BJP claimed 122 seats, Shiv Sena 63, and the Congress 42. (Except for the headline, nothing has been changed by Top Indian News in the wire.)
