BJP, Sena barely manage to retain power in Maha

Mumbai/Chandigarh: The BJP-Shiv Sena coalition was Thursday on course to retain power albeit with a truncated majority in Maharashtra where the opposition Congress-NCP alliance put up a spirited show.

In the first Assembly elections after the BJP's triumph in the Lok Sabha polls in May, the saffron party's electoral juggernaut met with some resistance in Maharashtra.

The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) not only improved its performance in Maharashtra but fared even better than senior partner Congress by contesting a lesser number of seats.

As per the results and trends available in Maharashtra, the BJP's tally in the 288-member Assembly was 99 while it was 57 for the Sena. In the 2014 polls, the BJP and the Sena won 122 and 63 seats respectively. They had then contested separately. The Sena joined the Fadnavis-led government over a month after it was formed.

NCP won or was ahead in 55 while the Congress' tally was 44. The NCP and the Congress bagged 41 and 42 seats in the outgoing House.

With trends in Maharashtra showing the BJP falling short of the halfway mark on its own, its ally and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said it was time to implement "fifty-fifty" formula for power-sharing, decided on earlier.

"We had agreed to contest fewer seats (than the BJP), but I cannot accommodate the BJP every time. I should allow my party to grow," Uddhav said, indicating that he would drive a hard bargain.

Pawar told reporters that the message was that people did not like "the arrogance of power".

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray, and Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde who trounced estranged cousin and BJP minister Pankaja Munde in a keenly-contested poll battle were among the prominent winners.

"Clear mandate by voters, the next government will be of BJP-Sena mahayuti (grand alliance)," Fadnavis told reporters.