The BJP-led NDA's presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu is expected to bag votes from Maharashtra against Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha in next week’s Presidential elections.
Arithmetic in the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly suggests that Murmu will not only be ahead in Maharashtra but also register one of the largest victory margins in India.
Maharashtra sends 48 MPs to Lok Sabha of which 23 are BJP, 18 are Shiv Sena, 4 are NCP and one each from Congress, AIMIM, and Independent. In Rajya Sabha, there are 19 MPs from Maharashtra, with 8 from BJP, 4 from NCP, three each from Congress and Shiv Sena and one from RPI-A. In the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the current strength is 287, where the BJP leads the tally with 106, followed by Shiv Sena (55), NCP (53), Congress (44) and independents/others (29).
With Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray breaking ranks with Maha Vikas Aghadi and extending support to Murmu on account of her being the first tribal woman candidate, the political dynamics have changed.
In Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha combined, there are 67 seats from Maharashtra of which BJP has 31 and Shiv Sena has 21. Independent MP from Amravati Navneet Kaur Rana and RPI-A President Ramdas Athawale support the BJP.
Sena's MVA allies Congress and NCP only have 12 seats in the Parliament, votes that will go to Sinha's votes along with that of AIMIM MP from Aurangabad Imtiaz Jaleel.
In the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, both factions of Shiv Sena — 15 led by Thackeray-family and 40 led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde are voting for Murmu. The ruling alliance and parent Shiv Sena votes would total over 180.
The value of a vote in the presidential polls of an MP is 700 while for a Maharashtra MLA it is 175. This means Murmu is expected to get 31,500 of the total 50,225 vote value from MLAs and 37,800 of the 46,900 vote from MPs.
Of the total 97,125 vote value of legislators and MPs, Murmu will get 69,300 and Sinha 27,825.