Maharashtra BJP President Raosaheb Danve recently claimed that the NDA would win 45 seats in this election, thereby surpassing its 2014 tally of 42 out of 48 seats. He also said that they would re-win all the seats that they had won in 2014, and in addition to that they would also win a couple more additional seats.
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Exit Polls are Baseless and not to be believed
He also dismissed the exit polls, saying that they were untrue and that any rumors or speculation that the Shiv Sena would face backlash from the populace of Maharashtra for their poor governance at the state level was not only unfounded, but also untrue. He said that opposition parties would have to accept the fact that NDA would be the single largest coalition in Maharashtra with an ever bigger and stronger majority than last time.
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Maharashtra has a total of 48 seats in the Lok Sabha
Maharashtra has a total of 48 seats in the Lok Sabha, out of which 18 were won by Shiv Sena and 24 by the BJP in the previous elections. These are the only two parties from the NDA which are contesting in Maharashtra. They have put up their candidates on all 48 seats against the UPA parties which include the INC as well as Sharad Pawar’s RLD. The current state government is headed by BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis in a coalition with the Shiv Sena, and in spite of rumors that all was not well in the coalition, it is now being claimed that the two parties are in fact contesting together and will stand together as one “for the good of Maharashtra”
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Danve claimed that in the previous elections, Shiv Sena had been the biggest ally of the BJP at the center. Therefore, he said, Shiv Sena would have no trouble repeating the same and helping the NDA win a total of 45 seats in Maharashtra.
Most exit polls released after the final phase of the elections on 19th May have predicted a comfortable win for the Modi led NDA, with some even speculating a 300+ seats majority. However, it is predicted that the tally in Maharashtra will go down to around 38-39 seats. Whether the polls are more accurate or Danve remains to be seen in the results on the 23rd May 2019.