2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election

The 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections were held on 20 November 2024 to elect all 288 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The turnout for the election was 66.05%, the highest since 1995. The BJP-led Maha Yuti alliance won a landslide victory, winning 235 seats of the 288 seats in which the election was held. None of the parties in the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance won the necessary number of seats to obtain the position of leader of opposition, a first in six decades.

Following the election, the BJP's leadership chose Devendra Fadnavis as their choice for chief minister on 4 December 2024. He took the oath as the chief minister for the third time on 5 December 2024.

Background

The tenure of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly was set to conclude on 26 November. The last Assembly elections in Maharashtra took place in October 2019. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance secured a majority to establish the government. However, internal conflicts led the Shiv Sena to exit the alliance and join forces with the Nationalist Congress Party and the Indian National Congress, forming a new coalition called Maha Vikas Aghadi. Subsequently, Maha Vikas Aghadi established the state government, with Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray assuming the role of chief minister.

Political developments

Following the 2022 Maharashtra political crisis, Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde, along with 40 MLAs from his party, formed a government with the BJP with Shinde becoming the new chief minister. After the 2023 Maharashtra political crisis, the Ajit Pawar faction of Nationalist Congress Party also joined the government.