Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP's most prominent leader in Maharashtra, has increased his lead margin to over 38,000 in Nagpur South West as votes are still being counted for the state assembly elections. Mr Fadnavis, the Deputy Chief Minister who had taken a demotion after a stint in the top post, has won 1.27 lakh votes so far, ahead of Congress rival Prafulla Gudadhe, who has won over 88,000 votes.
Nagpur, the home ground of the BJP's ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has been a saffron fortress since 2014. Nagpur South West, since its inception in 2009, has been with Mr Fadnavis. He had won it by a margin of nearly 50,000 votes in 2019. The margin was even wider (nearly 60,000) in 2014. When the first election was held for this seat in 2009, Mr Fadnavis had won by 18,000 votes.
After it became clear that Mahayuti will return for another term, Mr Fadnavis today recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'ek hain toh safe hain' slogan and said, "People from all sections voted for us unitedly. This is the victory of Mahayuti, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, and Ramdas Athawale. This is the victory of unity."
Asked who will become the Chief Minister, he said Union Home Minister Amit Shah has told all alliance leaders that the decision will be taken after a consultation with all. There will be no dispute, he asserted.
Mr Fadnavis served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra between 2014 and 2019. He was the state president of the BJP during 2013-15. In 2022, halfway through the term, he was instrumental in weaving an alliance with Eknath Shinde, whose exit from the united Shiv Sena toppled the Uddhav Thackeray government. He let Mr Shinde hold the top post, taking a demotion to be his deputy.
The results of the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections will be declared today. Votes are also being counted for by-elections to 48 assembly seats and two parliamentary seats across 15 states.