Result Day Dawns Upon BJP’s Fadnavis And Khattar As They Await People’s Verdict, Is A Big Victory In Store?

Today (24 October) is one of the most important days in the life of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar as they await their respective assembly results.

Fadnavis has already notched his name in the record books as he becomes the first Maharashtra Chief Minister in 47 years to complete full five years in office. It remains to be seen if he manages to extend it to 10 years.

In Maharashtra, Fadnavis is locked in a tumultuous alliance with Shiv Sena - a long time ally of the party with a recent history of strained coalition relations. One of the most noticeable features in recent years has been the BJP turning the tide by becoming the number 1 partner in the coalition.

The alliance dominated the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls hands-on as they won 41 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, with the BJP winning 23 of them.

Khattar has steered BJP’s ship for five years and has expressed confidence in returning back to power with an overwhelming majority. His work was rewarded by the voters in the recent Lok Sabha polls when the BJP won all 10 seats in the state.

Exit Polls

Majority of the exit polls have predicted an easy victory for the BJP in both the states. The common consensus is that the BJP will just fall short of the majority mark in Maharashtra on its own but the coalition numbers when added together will rule the roost.

Haryana too is has been predicted to give a clear mandate to the BJP with some exit polls predicting as many as 75 out of 90 seats for the party. Only outlier in this case is India Today-My Axis India poll which is predicting a hung assembly, with seats almost split between the BJP and the Congress.

Shaping The Future Of Indian Politics

Today’s results are expected to the shape the future of Indian politics for the next few years. If both Fadnavis and Khattar manage to pull off victories their stature will further rise in the party.

Besides the duo, the election is being considered as a crucial battle for NCP’s Sharad Pawar and Congress’ Bhupinder Singh Hooda to maintain their regional relevance after the Lok Sabha drubbing.

This election also comes at a time when Pawar is under the Enforcement Directorate (ED) lens in connection with the Maharashtra Cooperative Bank Scandal. Hooda has been under the scanner for various alleged land scams in the state for some time now.