Maharashtra Polls: Mahayuti leaders visit Tirupati Balaji to offer prayers

Union Minister of State (MoS) for Youth Affairs and Sports Raksha Khadse also visited the Tirupati Balaji this morning. She is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP, who represents the Raver Lok Sabha constituency in the Parliament. She was married to Nikhil Khadse, son of senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse.

BJP leader and National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) Chairman Hansraj Gangaram Ahir also paid a visit to the Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Temple on Friday morning to offer prayers.

Earlier, Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde on Thursday said that leaders of Mahayuti would sit together after the assembly results and decide who would be the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Speaking to ANI, the Kalyan MP further said that there is "no competition" among leaders in the alliance to become the CM.

"All leaders (of Mahayuti) will sit together and decide. There was never a competition among leaders here to be the CM. We want to form govt to do more development work in the next five years. In the last 2.5 years, Maha Vikas Aghadi only discussed who will be the CM; Daily they only discussed this. Their message did not even reach the public," Shinde told ANI.

Meanwhile, after the voting concluded, Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat expressed confidence in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) winning the Maharashtra Assembly election, asserting that the alliance would soon form the government.

MVA leaders convened a meeting on Thursday evening ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly election results. Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat, Shiv Sena-UBT leaders Sanjay Raut and Anil Desai, and NCP-SCP leader Jayant Patil were among the attendees at the meeting.

Speaking to media persons, Balasaheb Thorat said, "We held a meeting and are confident of winning this assembly election. We discussed the matter with Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar. If anyone wishes to join us, they are welcome. It's a positive environment. We are winning seats and forming the government soon."

In Maharashtra, the primary contest is between the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance and the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

The ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance includes the BJP, Shiv Sena, and the Nationalist Congress Party, while the opposition MVA comprises the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction).

This election is significant as it is the first assembly poll in the state following the splits in Shiv Sena and NCP. (ANI)