Amid Maratha Quota Stir, MahaYuti Sweeps Maharashtra Gram Panchayat Elections

Gram Panchayat elections in Maharashtra were held on Sunday (5 November) and the counting is complete on 2,218 of the 2,359 seats, till the time of reporting.

Of these, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stood out as the single largest party by winning 650 seats while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP followed it with 390 seats.

The third party of the MahaYuti, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is third with 288 seats. This takes the total count of the ruling alliance to 1,329.

Responding to this development, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, "The voters voted in favor of our Mahayuti government, which gave justice to all the sections of the society, and defeated those who betrayed the views of Balasaheb."

Expressing confidence at winning more than 45 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, Shinde thanked voters.

The results come at a time when the state is facing protests over Maratha reservation and they debunk the propaganda by Marathi media and MVA supporters that NDA is losing ground.