Maharashtra Election Results 2024: Who will be next Chief Minister? List of leaders in race for CM post

Maharashtra Election Results 2024:The counting of votes for the Maharashtra assembly elections are underway, with all eyes on the outcome of the battle between the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti and the Maha Vikas Aghadi. Let check the list of leaders who are in race for the CM post.

Maharashtra Election Results 2024: The counting of votes for all 288 Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra is presently underway and the trends shows that the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is set to retain power in the state. As the results are unclear yet, let's look at potential chief ministerial candidates from both BJP-led Mahayuti coalition and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.  

Maharashtra has 288 Assembly constituencies, and the majority mark is 145. Eknath Shinde is the incumbent Maharashtra CM with the support of the BJP and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. The voting for all seats in Maharashtra was held on November 20. A total of 29 seats in Maharashtra are reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs), while 25 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the state.   

List of leaders in race for CM post

1. Eknath Shinde

Eknath Shinde is currently the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and the chief of the Shiv Sena. Shinde rebelled against the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray two and half years ago and formed a government with the BJP. Later, the Election Commission recognised his Shiv Sena faction as the official party. Eknath Shinde had very few MLAs as compared to the BJP. However, despite this, he was given the post of Chief Minister. It is believed that after winning the election, the Mahayuti can carry forward this pattern.

2. Devendra Fadnavis

A two-time Chief Minister and the current Deputy CM of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis is top contender for the post of chief minister if the NDA wins the election. He was CM from 2014 to 2019. Following the 2019 assembly elections, he briefly served as chief minister. The BJP and Shiv Sena government was established after the Shiv Sena party split. Fadnavis was appointed Deputy CM, while Eknath Shinde was appointed CM. In the recent few years, Fadnavis's influence inside the Bharatiya Janata Party has grown significantly. It is thought that the BJP would once more think about handing over Maharashtra to the Fadnavis.

3. Ajit Pawar

Like Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar also rebelled against his own uncle Sharad Pawar and along with most of the NCP MLAs, became a part of the BJP-led NDA government in Maharashtra. Later he also got the election symbol and name of NCP. Ajit Pawar was given the post of Deputy CM, who has been considered a 'CM-in-waiting' since 2004, when his NCP ceded the top post to the Congress. This time he is contesting elections in alliance with BJP and Shiv Sena. Ajit Pawar has expressed his desire to become the Chief Minister many times.

4. Uddhav Thackeray

Uddhav Thackeray inherited the legacy of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray. In the year 2019, Uddhav broke the alliance with BJP nearly after two decades and formed the government with allaince Congress and NCP. After this, Thackeray served as the 19th Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2019 to 2022. However, Eknath Shinde and the party's unhappy MLAs rebelled against Uddhav. Following this, the party broke into two faction and Shiv Sena party and Shiv Sena (UBT). During the election campaign, a number of Uddhav faction officials asserted that if the state's MVA government is formed, Uddhav will be appointed chief minister.

5. Nana Patole

Nana Patole was a seasoned leader of Maharashtra's Bharatiya Janata Party. He was an MLA from the party and also became a Lok Sabha MP between 2014 and 2019. However, in the year 2019, Nana Patole left the BJP and joined the Congress. Nana Patole is currently the President of the Congress of Maharashtra and is the biggest name from the Congress in the race for the CM post.