Mahayuti dominates western Maharashtra, reduces MVA to distant second

A week before polling, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar threw down the gauntlet during a campaign rally in Madha: “Mess with anyone, but me”. However, the election results left Pawar’s camp and its Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, including the Congress and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), struggling to salvage their presence in western Maharashtra.
Of the 70 seats spread across Pune, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Solapur, and Ahmednagar, the ruling Mahayuti alliance stormed to victory in 53, while the MVA managed only 12. Five seats went to other parties.
The Mahayuti comprises the BJP, Shiv Sena led by chief minister Eknath Shinde, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) headed by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.
The biggest loser in the region was Congress, which won only two seats – Vishwajeet Kadam from Palus Kadegaon, and Hemant Ogale from Shrirampur. NCP (SP) on its part got eight seats here, drawing some consolation compared to others, while Shiv Sena (UBT) bagged two seats.
This marks a stark contrast to the 2019 assembly polls, when the Congress-NCP (undivided) won 39 seats and the BJP-Shiv Sena secured 25.
Mahayuti’s resurgence can be attributed to initiatives such as the Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana, which offered ₹1,500 per month to women.
“We had not anticipated such a strong wave in our favour even though we were confident of victory,” said NCP president Ajit Pawar whose party won 15 seats in Western Maharashtra. The BJP on the other hand won 28 and 09 went to Shiv Sena
The welfare scheme resonated strongly among rural women in the region, bolstering support in the agrarian heartland. The Mahayuti alliance also benefited from effective consolidation of the Other Backward Castes (OBC) vote bank and well-coordinated campaigns that resonated with voters’ concerns on onion, infrastructure, and irrigation.
In Kolhapur, the MVA faced a rout, losing all 10 seats, while in Pune, Mahayuti emerged victorious on 18 of the 21 constituencies.
The election saw prominent MVA leaders suffer unexpected losses. Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan (Congress) lost in Karad South, and Balasaheb Thorat (Congress) faced defeat in Sangamner.
Many Mahayuti heavyweights retained their strongholds. Ajit won in Baramati, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil in Shirdi, Chandrakant Patil in Kothrud, Dilip Walse Patil in Ambegaon, and Subhash Deshmukh in Solapur South. BJP’s Shivendraraje Bhosale in Satara achieved one of the state’s highest margins, winning by 142,124 votes.
The Mahayuti victory was underpinned by meticulous micromanagement and effective electoral coordination among its partners—BJP, Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar-led NCP. The alliance fielded strong candidates and avoided internal friction, presenting a cohesive front against the MVA.
Key rallies by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, BJP leader Yogi Adityanath, and state leaders such as Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis energised the cadre and electorate alike.
The alliance’s promises of free electricity for farmers and higher crop prices were particularly popular in the sugar belt. In contrast, the MVA struggled with internal divisions and lacked a compelling narrative, failing to capitalise on voter concerns over unemployment and inflation.
The results in western Maharashtra highlight a decisive shift in voter sentiment, with Mahayuti reasserting dominance in a region traditionally seen as a Congress-NCP (SP) stronghold.