MUMBAI: The BJP bagged the maximum number of seats in Maharashtra, but it was Saffron ally Shiv Sena that has turned out to be the biggest gainer in terms of votes.
The principal opposition parties, the NCP and the Congress, saw a 3 per cent dip in their vote share and that seems to have gone into Sena’s kitty as the party saw a corresponding jump in its vote share.
However, the NCP and Congress candidates in Mumbai bettered their vote percentage compared to 2014. On the other hand, the Shiv Sena could not increase its seats and three of its sitting MPs lost miserably.
Yet, the party has emerged as the single biggest gainer in terms of votes while winning 18 Lok Sabha seats. The party polled over 1.25 crore votes, 25 lakh more than its 2014 figure of 1 lakh.
The BJP, which won 23 seats while fetching around 1.5 crore votes, could add only 17 lakh more votes to its 2014 share of 1.33 crore votes.
The NCP, too, has increased its votes by 3 lakh, with no change in a number of seats. It had polled 80 lakh votes this time as against 77 lakh in 2014.
Congress is the net loser in the state. It won just one seat while its vote share came down by 30,000 — from 88.30 lakh in 2014 to 88 lakh now.
According to Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe, the party’s decision to join hands with the BJP helped it.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavsis’s appeal to BJP leaders to ensure the victory of maximum Sena candidates, too, helped the party increase its tally.