Maharashtra, Jharkhand election results likely to set tone for Parliament's winter session

New Delhi: The counting of votes for the elections to the Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assemblies will be held on Saturday and the results will show whether the BJP-led NDA has recovered from the Lok Sabha shocker or the Congress-led I.N.D.I.A. bloc will be on a better footing.

Performance in bypolls – in 48 Assembly seats and two Lok Sabha constituencies where voting was done along with Jharkhand and Maharashtra polls – will also have an impact as adverse results will have impact on leaders like Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

While both sides are exuding confidence, the results are expected to have a bearing on the Winter Session of Parliament starting on Monday, as the Opposition is seeking to corner the Narendra Modi government on a host of issues including Adani issue and surging Manipur ethnic violence among other things.

The counting starts at 8 AM and by noon, trends are expected to settle by noon.

In Maharashtra, the Maha Vikas Aghadi or the I.N.D.I.A bloc is hoping to avenge the usurping of power by the BJP-led Mahayuti or the NDA after splitting Shiv Sena and NCP. However, exit polls have not been kind to the grouping with most of them giving the BJP coalition a clear edge. MVA consists of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Pawar).

Whichever the results go in the western state, it would be interesting to see who would be the Chief Minister. In Mahayuti, Eknath Shinde of Shiv Sena wants a second shot at power while Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis is also a claimant. 

Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Uddhav Thackeray is the main claimant in MVA while Congress has not thrown its towel in the race for Chief Minister if the coalition wins. The Maharashtra results will also decide whether Thackeray or Shinde and Sharad Pawar or his nephew Ajit Pawar, who has sided with BJP, has the last laugh.

Similarly in Jharkhand, the BJP-led NDA is hoping to prevent the JMM-led I.N.D.I.A bloc from returning to power for another five years. If I.N.D.I.A returns to power, exit polls are not enthusiastic, JMM’s Hemant Soren will continue for a second term while the BJP has not revealed its cards so far.

The prominent bypoll fight is for Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, vacated by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, where Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. Congress says her victory is assured and the question is only about the margin. The second Lok Sabha seat where bypoll was conducted is Nanded. Both seats are held by Congress.

Nine Assembly seats are headed for bypolls in UP and a poor show like in the Lok Sabha bypolls may raise trouble for Adityanath. Samajwadi Party is contesting all the nine seats and hopes to retain five sitting seats and wrest one or two from the BJP.

Out of 48 Assembly seats that went to bypolls, BJP has 13, Congress 12, Trinamool Congress 5, Samajwadi Party 4 and RJD and Sikkim Kranti Morcha two each and AAP one. SKM won two seats in Sikkim unopposed.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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