Mumbai, October 24: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena alliance has inched past the halfway majority mark, as per the trends which emerged in the first couple of hours. The BJP has taken the lion's share, with a lead on 105 seats, followed by the Shiv Sena which is ahead on 69 constituencies. The Congress and the NCP have taken a lead on 38 and 51 assembly segments, respectively. Stay tuned here for the live news and updates on Maharashtra assembly election results 2019.

In the 288-member Maharashtra assembly, the halfway majority mark is 144. As per the trends, the BJP and the Shiv Sena will comfortably cross the mark and continue to remain in power. Incumbent Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said on Tuesday that he would continue to remain at the helm of the next government.

The Shiv Sena, however, had remain tight lipped on who the next CM would be. The party cadres had pushed for Aaditya Thackeray, the first member of the Thackeray family who is contesting elections. The 29-year-old is leading from the Worli constituency by the time this report was published.

In the 2014 assembly polls, the BJP and Shiv Sena had walked out of their 25-year-old alliance based on the principle of Hindutva. The two parties had contested the last legislative elections separately and ended up winning 122 and 63 seats, respectively. The Congress and the NCP had also ended their 15-year pact and contested separately. They were reduced to 42 and 41 seats, respectively.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 24, 2019 09:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).