New Delhi, Nov 23 (IANS ) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led MahaYuti is headed for a thumping victory in the high-stakes Maharashtra Assembly elections while a pall of gloom prevails in the rival faction Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comprising Congress, SS (UBT) and NCP-SP, as per trends till 12 noon.
While the MVA is left grappling with the 'Maha stunner', the number crunching yields another startling detail about MahaYuti's performance, particularly the BJP.
The latest trends show that the BJP leading on 124 seats, Shiv Sena on 56 seats, and NCP on 37 seats, while Congress, SS (UBT) and NCP-SP were ahead on 19, 19 and 13 seats respectively.
The current trends show the BJP alone fetching more seats than the combined MVA's strength. Its strike rate in the Assembly elections came as a shock for the opposition alliance as the latter mounted an aggressive campaign to counter MahaYuti's poll promises. The cash-for-votes scandal on a day before polling also seems to have had no impact on election results.
As per available data, BJP's strike rate stands at 84 per cent, with the party taking the lead in 122 seats out of 148 that it contested. Similarly, its allies Shiv Sena and NCP's strike rates are too impressive to ignore. Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has managed a strike rate of 71 per cent, taking the lead in 58 out of 81 seats it contested while Ajit Pawar-led NCP earned a strike rate of 62 per cent, managing the lead in 37 out of 59 constituencies that it fought.
On the other hand, MVA's strike rate as well as leads in early trends has come as a major setback, so much so that SS (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut termed it "unacceptable" and pressed for a fresh election.
The Congress contested 110 seats and is leading on just 20 seats, indicating a strike rate of 19.2 per cent while Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP-SP contested 92 and 86 seats respectively but are seen taking the lead on 18 and 10 seats respectively, thus garnering strike rates of 20.6 per cent and 11.6 per cent.
The outgoing Assembly had MahaYuti holding 186 seats amongst its three constituents.
Current trends suggest the alliance is poised to surpass its previous tally and even better its 2019 performance by a big margin.
In 2019, the BJP bagged 105 seats whereas the undivided Shiv Sena won 56 seats, taking the alliance's total number of seats to 161.