Eknath Shinde blames ‘voters on holiday’ for NDA's Lok Sabha election setback in Maharashtra

Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said several loyal voters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party went on holiday during voting in the Lok Sabha elections, assuming that the saffron alliance was set to win more than 400 seats in the 543-member lower house of Parliament.

At the joint rally of ruling ‘Mahayuti’ allies in Mumbai, Shinde said,"We were caught off guard by the opposition during the Lok Sabha election. Some of our voters went on holiday during the polling, assuming that the NDA would easily win more than 400 seats in the general elections. This loss underscores the need for a more strategic approach in the future."

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According to PTI, the chief minister claimed the opposition voters diligently exercised their franchise, with almost 80 per cent turnout.

"If 60 per cent of our voters had turned up at the polling booths, we could have easily won 40 seats. We can't afford to be naive or callous after being hit hard in the Lok Sabha polls," he added.

BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis supported Shinde's claims, stating that the NDA leaders did not pay enough attention to the lies spread by the Opposition during the campaign.

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Maharashtra sends 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha. In the just concluded general elections, the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP(SP) won 30 seats. 

While the BJP's seat tally dropped to nine, its allies Shiv Sena led by Shinde won seven while Ajit Pawar's NCP could only bag just one seat. 

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The Lok Sabha election results have bolstered the MVA ahead of the all-important assembly polls due later this year. 

During the meeting, Fadnavis pointed to some alliance leaders making public statements against each other. “There are some party leaders who get some extreme urge to make some statement. My suggestion to them is to first speak with their leaders, seek their permission, and then open their mouths,” he said.

(With PTI inputs)