Maharashtra elections: Mahayuti won 84% of seats in constituencies with more women voters

The BJP won 131 of 149 seats it contested in the state

The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance had a better strike rate in constituencies with higher women participation, according to a Moneycontrol analysis.

Election results released on November 23 saw the BJP-led alliance winning a comfortable majority, securing over 80 percent of the 288 seats in the state, with the national party itself coming close to the majority mark of 145.

The BJP won 131 of 149 seats it contested in the state, while Shiv Sena, led by former chief minister Eknath Shinde, won 57, and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party won 41.

The Mahayuti alliance won 10 of the 15 seats where women polled higher than men and 34 of the 44 seats where women voters accounted for over 49 percent.

Moreover, in seats where the number of women voters was higher than the state average of 47.82 percent, the Mahayuti alliance won 83.6 percent of the 134 seats across the state.

At the beginning of the year, the alliance announced the Ladki Bahin Yojana, promising Rs 1,500 to women from families who require financial assistance.

During the current election, the Mahayuti leaders promised to increase the monthly instalment to Rs 2,100.

Better margins

While the extent of the victory indicates a decisive win for the ruling dispensation, further analysis by Moneycontrol shows that the current election was more decisive than the one fought in 2019.

Nearly 60 percent of the seats in the current election were decided with a margin of over 20,000 votes, compared with 53 percent in the 2019 elections.

Moreover, in just 36 seats the margin of victory was less than 5000 votes.

BJP’s wins were more decisive

The big takeaway for the BJP would not just be the seats that it won but also how it won them.

The national party won 70 percent of its seats with a margin of over 20,000 votes, while its partner and the second largest player in the state won 66 percent of its seats with over 20,000 votes, and NCP won 53 percent of the seats with a high margin.

In contrast, the Sharad Pawar faction of NCP won only 40 percent of its seats with over 20,000 votes.

The Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena was the worst performer winning just 20 percent of seats with over 20,000 votes.