2014 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election

The term of the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra was due to expire on 8 November 2014. By virtue of its powers, duties and functions under Article 324 read with Article 172(1) of the Constitution of India and Section 15 of Representation of the People Act, 1951, the Election Commission of India is required to hold elections to constitute the new Legislative Assembly in the State of Maharashtra during a window of time which is: between six months before and six months after the date of expiry. Elections are almost invariably held before the expiry of the term, rather than afterwards.

The Model Code of Conduct comes into effect the day that the election commission announces the schedule of elections. This happened on 12 September 2014. The required Gazette Notification was issued on 20 September 2014. The legislative assembly election was held on 15 October 2014, in a single phase, to select the 288 members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in India. The result was announced on 19 October,[8] with the BJP getting a plurality. The term of the current 13th Legislative Assembly is to end on November 9, 2019 as the first meeting of the new house was held on November 10, 2014.

Following the 2009 Maharashtra State Assembly election, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)—Indian National Congress (INC) alliance won a majority and formed the government.

Following the NCP-INC alliance's performance in the 2014 Indian general election, the NCP demanded 144 seats to contest and a rotation of the Chief Minister's post between parties. Both parties held negotiations but failed to reach a conclusion. The INC declared its list of candidates for 118 seats on 25 September without consulting the NCP. Thus, the NCP unilaterally severed its 15-year-old alliance with the INC. The INC later reached out to the Samajwadi Party (SP) to form an alliance.[9][10]

The Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) were alliance partners for 25-years - including several smaller parties, such as Republican Party of India (Athavale), Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, were also a part. After the general election, the BJP demanded additional seats to contest; initially they requested 144 seats but later reduced their demand to 130 seats. The Shiv Sena offered 119 seats to the BJP and 18 seats to four other allies, keeping 151 to contest itself. After several rounds of negotiations, the parties did not reach a conclusion. Thus the Shiv Sena - BJP alliance ended on the 25 September as well.[10][11]

A total of 3255 candidates contested the election.voter turnout was 64%.[16] Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) along with EVMs was used in 13 constituencies:[17] Wardha, Amravati (2 pockets),[18] Yavatmal, Chandrapur, Nashik (3 pockets), Aurangabad (3 pockets) and Ahmednagar (2 pockets).[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]

Result

  Bharatiya Janata Party: 122 seats

  Shiv Sena: 63 seats

  Indian National Congress: 42 seats

  Nationalist Congress Party: 41 seats

  Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi: 3 seats

  Peasants and Workers Party of India: 3 seats

  All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen: 2 seats

  Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh: 1 seat

  Communist Party of India (Marxist): 1 seat

  Maharashtra Navnirman Sena: 1 seat

  Rashtriya Samaj Paksha: 1 seat

  Samajwadi Party: 1 seat

  Independent: 7 seats

Party	Seats contested	Seats won	Votes	Vote % in seats contested	Vote %	Seat change
Bharatiya Janata Party	230	122	14,709,276	31.15%	27.8%
Shiv Sena	282	63	10,235,972	19.80%	19.3%
Indian National Congress	287	42	9,496,144	18.10%	18.0%
Nationalist Congress Party	278	41	9,122,299	17.96%	17.2%
Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi	36	3	329,457	5.71%	0.6%
Peasants and Workers Party of India	51	3	533,309	5.81%	1.0%
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen	24	2	489,614	3.16%	0.9%
Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh	70	1	472,925	3.64%	0.9%
Communist Party of India (Marxist)	20	1	207,933	5.76%	0.4%
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena	220	1	1,665,033	4.18%	3.7%
Rashtriya Samaj Paksha	6	1	256,662	20.54%	0.5%
Samajwadi Party	22	1	92,304	2.54%	0.2%
Independent	1699	7	2,494,016	4.82%	4.7%	N/A
Total[29][30]	288	288	50,105,123	n/a	100%

The following is the list of candidates won:[29]

With the BJP having won a plurality, the NCP offered outside support to the BJP, according to Praful Patel.[32] The NCP offer was read as putting the Shiv Sena under pressure by saying it gave the BJP "mega-clout" in negotiations with the Shiv Sena. Amit Shah did not turn down the offer saying that the party's parliamentary board, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi would discuss options. Other unnamed BJP members said the Shiv Sena was "a natural fit" with the party. Other unnamed BJP members said they expected the Shiv Sena to seek the post of deputy chief minister as well as more ministers in the national government. Unnamed Shiv Sena spokespeople told NDTV that, as potential kingmaker, Uddhav Thackeray would decide the next steps "in Maharashtra's best interest."[33] Finally, BJP and Shiv Sena agreed to come together and form the government.

• 2014 elections in India

• Assembly Election, Election Commission of India