By IANS,
Mumbai : Maharashtra will Thursday count the millions of votes polled in the assembly elections to decide who gets to rule the sprawling state — one of India’s most industrialised.
Thousands of officials will count the millions of votes polled in the Oct 13 assembly elections to pick a new 288-member legislature.
As the elections took place only five months after the Lok Sabha battle, won by the Congress-led coalition, the mood is quite upbeat in the ruling Congress-led Democratic Front camp in the state.
The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), its ally, are hoping to secure a hat-trick.
But the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena allinace is determined to dislodge the Congress and NCP and usher in ‘Shiv-Shahi’ (Shivaji’s Rule).
In the 2004 elections, the Congress and the NCP won 139 seats and the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance 119. Independents bagged 30 seats.
Unlike in the past two assembly elections, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) of Raj Thackeray is a factor that threatens to upset the Shiv Sena-BJP calculations.
The MNS proved its nuisance value in at least 10 valuable seats in the Lok Sabha election, estimate the Shiv Sena and the BJP.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Republican Party of India (RPI) and the Left are giving uncomfortable moments to the Congress-NCP coalition.
For the Congress in the state and in New Delhi, the challenge is to retain the second most important political state after Uttar Pradesh.
The elections are a test of credibility for Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who took charge of Maharashtra after the November 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai, replacing Vilasrao Deshmukh.
A victory could help him gain an upper hand over senior party leader Narayan Rane, a former Shiv Sena stalwart who is desperate to become the chief minister.
On the opposition side too, the stakes are equally high.
BJP leader Gopinath Munde, who guided the election battle, is hoping for a win — so as to achieve the coveted status once enjoyed by his brother-in-law, the late Pramod Mahajan.
As for the Shiv Sena, Udhav Thackeray fought the elections less against the ruling combine than his own estranged cousin Raj Thackeray.
The electoral outcome would indicate who the people of Maharashtra consider the rightful heir to Bal Thackeray’s legacy.
Among the most eagerly watched results would be Amravati, where Rajendrasingh Shekhawat, son of President Pratibha Patil contested against a prominent Congress rebel; Wani in Yavatmal from where farmer widow Bebitai Bai tried her luck; and Osmanabad where Jagjitsinh Patil of NCP was pitted against Shiv Sena’s Omraje Nimbalkar.
Union Minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s daughter Praniti stood from Solapur while his colleague Vilasrao Deshmukh’s son Amit contested from Latur.
Election Commission officials say they are ready for the vote count. “We are prepared. All arrangements have been made for the peoples’ verdict,” said an official.
He said the first results would be declared by late morning. All results would be known by late afternoon.
Around 60 percent of the 7.60 crore electorate in the state exercised their franchise Oct 13. There was repolling in 22 polling centres, mostly after Maoist guerrillas tried to disrupt voting.