The ruling Mahayuti will win the 2024 Maharashtra election, two of three exit polls said Wednesday evening, shortly after the close of single-phase voting in the state.
The BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP alliance will emerge the winner with 150-195 seats in the 288-member Assembly, the Matrize and Peoples Pulse exit polls declared. A third poll – P-Marq – predicted a closer fight but still gave the Mahayuti a narrow win, with a score of 147.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance – the Congress and the Sena and NCP factions led by ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar – are predicted to stumble with Matrize and Peoples Pulse giving it a maximum of 130 seats.
The exception is P-Marq, which expects the MVA to get between 126 and 146 seats.
The majority mark in the Maharashtra Assembly is 145.
Health warning: exit polls often get it wrong.