Mahayuti Secures Landslide Victory in Maharashtra Legislative Council Polls

In a significant win for Mahayuti, the ruling coalition triumphs in all nine seats it contested in Maharashtra's biennial Legislative Council elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party claimed five seats, while Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party each secured two. The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi suffered a setback with the defeat of a candidate backed by Sharad Pawar's party.

In a morale-boosting victory for the 'Mahayuti' coalition in Maharashtra ahead of the assembly polls, the ruling alliance secured all nine seats it contested in the biennial elections for 11 Legislative Council seats. This victory comes as a setback for the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which saw a candidate backed by Sharad Pawar's party lose.

The results, announced in the evening, showed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning five seats. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) each bagged two seats. All three parties are part of the Mahayuti, which had underperformed in recent Lok Sabha polls.

From the opposition MVA, Milind Narvekar, a close aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, and Congress candidate Pradnya Satav, emerged victorious. However, the Peasants and Workers' Party (PWP) candidate Jayant Patil, backed by the NCP (Sharad Pawar), faced defeat. The election was held for seats due to vacate on July 27, with 23 votes needed to win a seat in the 288-member legislative assembly.