A landslide: BJP's 85% strike rate in Maharashtra leaves I.N.D.I.A bloc in tatters

NEW DELHI The Congress-led I.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

N.D.I.A bloc suffered a devastating blow in the Maharashtra Assembly elections as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a victory in 85% of the contested seats, leaving none of the three Opposition parties with enough seats to be accorded even the status of Leader of Opposition.

In the 288-seat Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, a party needs at least 28 seats to be recognised as the Leader of Opposition. However, the Congress won only 16 seats, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) secured 20, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar won 10 seats.

In what ultimately turned out to be a one-sided result, voters ensured that the BJP triumphed in 132 of the 148 seats it contested-achieving a strike rate of more than 88%-just 13 seats shy of the majority mark. Its two allies, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) won 57 of the 81 seats it contested while NCP won 41 of the 59 seats it contested.

This is the best ever performance of the BJP in the state where for decades it was playing the role of a younger brother to what was an undivided Shiv Sena.