The ruling Mahayuti in Maharashtra is set to return to power in the state in the Assembly elections scheduled to be held on November 20, an opinion poll conducted by survey agency Matrize has predicted. The survey, conducted between October 10 and November 9, covered 1,09,628 respondents.
As per the survey projections, the Mahayuti may secure between 145-165 seats in Maharashtra's 288-member Assembly while the Maha Vikas Aghadi of the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP is predicted to win around 106-126 seats.
The ruling alliance is also shown to have an edge over the Opposition in terms of vote share. As per the survey projections, the Mahayuti is likely to garner 47 percent of the vote share as compared to 41 percent for the MVA. Others are likely to garner 12 percent of the votes.
According to the Matrize survey, the BJP is expected to receive significant support in Western Maharashtra (48%), Vidarbha (48%), and Thane-Konkan (52%) while the Congress-led MVA is projected to perform strongly in regions such as North Maharashtra and Marathwada, with anticipated vote shares of 47 percent and 44 percent, respectively.
The survey findings, if they hold true on results day, will come as a huge setback for the Maha Vikas Aghadi which emerged as the clear choice of voters in the Lok Sabha elections held recently. In the general elections held in May this year, the MVA bagged 31 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state while the NDA was restricted to 17 seats.
A victory in the Haryana elections, however, appeared to have turned the tide in favour of the BJP-led Mahayuti, reenergising its cadre and allowing the party to recalibrate its strategy for the Assembly polls.
The MVA, on the other hand, was seen struggling on the issue of seat-sharing and the chief ministerial face. However, the coalition has exuded confidence about winning the elections and forming a government in the state.
The elections are a make or break for either side of the alliance with the last five years witnessing significant political realignments in the state with both regional behemoths -- the Shiv Sena and the NCP -- seeing a split.
Voting for the Maharashtra elections is scheduled to be held on November 20 and the results will be declared on November 23.
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