Mumbai, September 25:Amid growing discontent within the Mahayuti ranks in Maharashtra, Mahesh Tapase, Chief Spokesperson of the Nationalist Congress Party (SP), has issued a bold prediction about the fate of the Mahayuti alliance in the upcoming elections. Tapase asserted that the alliance, led by the BJP, the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) and Ajit Pawar will not secure more than 100 seats, citing the Maharashtra electorate’s resentment towards the central BJP leadership as a key factor for the alliance's declining support.

"There is visible resentment against the central leadership of the BJP. Each time these leaders visit Maharashtra, the Mahayuti's support base erodes further," Tapase said during a press interaction. He specifically pointed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent visit to Nagpur, where Shah urged BJP workers to increase their vote share by 10% in order to ensure the alliance's victory. 

Responding to Shah's remarks, Tapase confidently claimed that the Mahayuti’s vote share would actually decrease by 20%, arguing that voters in Maharashtra are increasingly disillusioned with the BJP's power hungry approach. 

"The BJP has relied heavily on its central leaders to boost its electoral performance in Maharashtra, but the people of this state are no longer interested. They want accountability, development, jobs which the Mahayuti has failed to secure. Luring away MLA’s of Uddhav Thackery & Sharad Pawar to make an unconstitutional alliance in Maharashtra has not gone well with people of the state," Tapase added.

Political analysts have noted a growing divide between the BJP and its allies in Maharashtra. 

The NCP led by Sharad Pawar has been quick to seize on these internal tensions, positioning itself as the voice of local aspirations.

With elections approaching, the stakes are high for both alliances. While Amit Shah’s remarks in Nagpur underscored the BJP’s push to shore up its electoral prospects, Tapase’s confident prediction of a sub-100-seat outcome for the Mahayuti raises the question of whether the BJP’s strategy of relying on national figures can counter the regional pushback.

As Maharashtra gears up for a highly charged election, the battle for the state’s political future appears to be intensifying, with both the Mahayuti and MVA camps preparing for a fiercely contested campaign.